A Haunted Crime
by Number915
Summary: Every town has a haunted house, the one in Las Vegas just so happens to be a crime scene // When a family member of Nick Stokes lands a job as a CSI, a Stokes family enemy seeks out revenge.
1. The New Guy

**I can't let this story go...I didn't like how I eneded it and I didn't really like how I started the second half. I havent posted in a long time because I rushed it the first tiem and wound up with writers block as I was thinking about all this other stuff I wanted to put in the first part. So I am going to be posting new chapters to this story. The first 9 chaps are pretty much the same, I made small changes in diaglog but thats about it. I'm going to start adding in new story lines in the 10th chapter! I am still going to add in the stuff that was previously here just later in the story. I want to add more with the Stokes in this draft.**

**Summary: Every town has a haunted house, the one in Las Vegas just so** **happens to be a crime scene//When a family member of Nick gets a job as a CSI, a Stokes family enemy seeks out his revenge.**

***I do not own CSI***

**XOXOXOXO**

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 1: The New Guy**

The break room at the Las Vegas crime lab was busting at the seams with the occupants of the Graveyard shift, anxiously awaiting Grissom to introduce them to the newest member of the team. Catherine Willows walked through the doors leading to the hallway and took a seat next to Warrick Brown.

"So Nicky, tell us something about the new guy!" Catherine asked Nick. Warrick muffled a giggle. The only thing Grissom had told Catherine was that the new employee was a relation to fellow CSI Nick Stokes.

"Nope…No I promised Andy I wouldn't say anything and I'm holding to that." Nick replied, his southern drawl noticeable with every syllable.

"Oh come on cowboy." Warrick mocked Nick's southern drawl. "You can't leave her completely in the dark."

"I can and I will. Warrick you know Andy, I like sibling rivalry as much as the next person but I also like my face intact."

"Sibling?!" Catherine almost yelled in surprise shock. "You gotta give me something on this guy now." Again a muffled giggle could be heard form the man sitting next to her.

"N-O, so stop bugging me and stop calling Andy guy?"

Before Catherine had time to get an explanation out of Nick, Grissom walked through the same doors she had, followed by a figure that was definitely not a guy.

"Team, this is Andrea Stokes, our new CSI. Upon completing her proficiency of course."

"Hi! Just call me Andy." The girl of about 24 years waved at the shocked faces in the crowded room. "They all thought I was a guy?" She questioned Nick.

"Hey you told me not to say _anything_." Nick answered with a big smile on his face. "And I'm a man of my word."

She looked at Warrick

"Andy this is Captain Jim Brass, CSI Sara Sidle, CSI Warrick Brown," Pointing to each individual as he went around the table. Grissom introduced her to several people standing up as well. He labeled them as various lab techs but she didn't catch their names. She made a note to ask Nick later. Coming out of her slight daydream state Grissom was finishing up the introductions, "CSI Catherine Willows and…where's Greg?"

As if the words were a secret password for his presences Greg, completely soaked form his hair to his black converse's, ran in through the doors adjacent to Grissom, "Sorry I'm late!" and headed straight for the coffee pot. Settling for the cheap coffee Ecklie stocked the break room with, Greg poured himself a cup. Greg never regretted hiding his Blue Hawaiian coffee, but today was one for the books. "I've had the worst day." Greg turned around and slipped on the puddle his jacket created on the linoleum floor. He just barely caught himself on the break room table, and tried to play it off falling into the chair. "So where's the new guy?" he asked nonchalantly as if nothing happened.

"Greg this is Andy Stokes, the new guy." Grissom replied with a bit of sarcasm. "Andy this is CSI Greg Sanders."

"Hi!" Greg said his cheeks turning red. She smiled.

"Greg why are you wet?" Grissom said, unable to hold his curiosity any longer.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Greg reached into the pocket of his oversized poncho and pulled out a zip locked bag and slid it across the table to Grissom. "I think I solved the Morgan Murders of last month."

"Is this..."

"Yep."

"but how..."

"Don't ask."

"Good work Greg." Sara piped up from next to Grissom. She and Greg had shared the case. Most of the body's occupying the room started to linger out to start the day's work. All that were left were the CSI's and Captain Jim Brass

"Okay we are splitting into our usual Teams," Greg and Catherine gave each other a high five, Nick and Warrick Touched Knuckles and Sara just looked at Grissom and smiled. "Catherine and Greg you have a break-in at Pedro's Pizza, Greg put on some dry pants. Nick and Warrick you have a double homicide, work together on this one. I don't want any bets. And Sara we have a B&E with a 419. Warrick, Andy is yours first. Nick set her up with a kit."

"You got it boss, come on noobie." Nick gestured for Andy to follow, and she did, followed by Greg's eyes.

**In the supply room**

"Now, the kit is every CSI's secret weapon. You want to always keep it stocked up and make sure your liquids are topped off and fresh." Nick picked up a large bundle of swabs and stuffed them in her kit. "There is no such thing as too many swabs."

"Got it." Andy took the kit form Nick and started to fill out the information card that fits in the sleeve in the lid of the secret weapon.

"How's mom handling this?" Nick asked his little sister. Andy stopped writing on her card and scratched her forehead.

"She's not, but dad is a different story. He won't stop telling me how disappointed he is." She continued writing.

"Don't let him get to ya Andy. Dad will always be dad. Besides you're the baby. He just wants what's best for ya"

"I know, I know. I just wish he could see things my way for just once."

"Well, does he know the real reason why you left?"

"No," Andy stopped writing again and pointed the pen at Nick, "and if you love me you won't tell him."

"I'm not telling him anything…But you're going to have to tell him. Eventually he's going to find out."

"Well it's better for him to find out when I'm here and not in reaching distance."

"What's going to stop him from jumping on a plane to Vegas to open up a can of whoop ass on you?"

"Nothing…that's why I'm hoping he never finds out." Andy took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I knew I should've gone to Europe." Andy shook her head and tucked the information card in her kit, clasped the lid closed, picked it up and walked toward the door. "I'll meet you in the break room."

"Yeah Alright." Nick said with a smile to the back of her head. He continued to re-stock his own kit when Greg walked in.

"Hey Nick." Nick looked up to see Greg standing in the doors his sister just walked out of.

"Hey G, what's up."

"Nothing," Greg walked in the room and leaned on the table Nick was working on. "Just wondering what's up with Andy."

"What's up with Andy is she is my little sister, therefore off limits to you!" Nick answered with a small grin now refilling his clipboard with paper.

"She's cute…"

"Stay away from my sister Sanders."

"…Which is why it's hard to believe she is even related to you."

"I'm serious." Nick retaliated not too convincingly.

"Mee too, she doesn't look a thing like you…"

"Aren't you supposed to be with Catherine?"

"Okay fine," Greg walked to the doorway and turned back around to Nick. "But I can't turn the Sanders charm off. When _she_ comes looking for _me_ its fair game." Nick picked up the closest thing to him, that just so happen to be an empty spray bottle, and chucked it at Greg, who dodged it by an inch.

"Get outta here." Nick picked up his kit and made for the break room. Looks like Andy coming here was going to be more trouble than Nick thought. He never took boys into consideration, let alone Greg. He always got along with Greg. He would hate to have to hurt him.


	2. Lions, tigers and Hodges, OH MY

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 2: Lions, tigers and Hodges, OH MY**

"Can you draw me a map to this place…it's like a giant maze." Nick decided to take Andy on a little tour of the lab before they headed out to the crime scene.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it. Hey come in here." Nick gestured to his left. They walked into a room with walls of glass. The room was filled with expensive equipment and three people sitting at the island in the middle looking over results. "Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt anything but I wanted to introduce you to Andy. The new CSI. Andy this is Wendy Simms-DNA, Henry Andrews-toxicology and Mandy Webster-Fingerprint Fanatic." They gave her a tiny nod or a smile when their name was called.

"Ah! Mini Stokes! It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you." Mandy said with a smile.

"From Nick?" Andy asked

"No…since this is your first day, you are the topic of the day." Henry answered

"So far I got 3 different accounts of what you look like. Oh and just to let you know someone got a hold of your transcript." Wendy warned her

"Good to know."

"And made copies…and…distributed them throughout the lab."

"Hodges." Nick, Mandy and Henry concluded at once.

"Most likely." Wendy agreed

"What's a Hodges?" Andy asked looking a little confused.

"He's the trace tech. Let's go pay the Hodge man a visit."

"Uh-oh. See you guys around." Andy waved as she left the room with Nick.

"Bye." They replied to her as she left. "She's cute." Henry added

"Now I want to warn you." Nick said in the hallway leading to Hodges lab. "This guy is super annoying, super aggravating and a super suck up."

"Well I guess everyone has to be super at something."

"Yeah well this guy is super at being an ass." Nick pointed at a dimly lit room to his right.

"In here." Andy entered the room to see a middle aged man crouched over a telescope. Nick cleared his throat and the man turned around looking annoyed.

"I'm not a miracle worker Nick. My time is money. I assume you are Andy. It is a pleasure to have another Stokes on our team. And despite what you heard about me, I can be a very likable guy once you have the full David Hodges experience." She looked at Nick with disbelief and he gave her an 'I told you so' look in return. The sound of Nick's pager bounced off the walls.

"Hey I'll be right back Grissom wants me for something. Be nice you guys, I'll be back in a second."

"So what the 30 second rundown of all that is Andy Stokes?" Hodges asked as Nick walked out the lab.

"Well…My name is Andrea Lynn Stokes, I am Nick's little sister. I graduated from Yale with honors in Chemistry. I drive a red PT Cruiser, I like toast, my favorite color is green and I just met you and already I find you annoying."

"You got 10 more seconds." Hodges said looking at his watch.

"I'm not a miracle worker"

"You know, you remind me of…" Hodges was cut off by a man that Andy recognized from the break room introductions but couldn't recall his name. He was wearing a lab coat so that must mean he works here in the lab.

"Hey Andy, I finished with that evidence from the case you and Nick are working on I'm busy so you should come look at it now…"Andy gave the man a suspicious look then caught his game.

"Oh right! Of course, the evidence. Sorry Hodges I got to jet, I'll see you around though." She walked to the man who handed her a folder and told her to just follow him. He took her down the hall into a room with several big plasma screens and several smaller computer screens, and some fancy equipment.

"Man I hate to be you on a slow night." Andy muttered sarcastically.

"Slow nights are my specialty." He smiled, "I'm Archie Johnson. The A/V Tech." He said holding out a hand.

"Andy Stokes, CSI, but you already knew that." She said as she shook his hand. "Thanks for getting me outta there."

"You have no idea what I saved you from. He doesn't know how to stop talking."

"And I will forever be in your debt." She walked over to the nearest computer screen. "What is this?"

"As I said slow nights are my specialty." One of Archie's role playing games was on pause mode. He had busted written all over his face.

"We came, we saw, we conquered. And if the taste of victory is sweet, the taste of virtual victory is not Sweet 'N Low, nor the bullets made of sugar." Andy recited as she admired all the equipment.

"You did not just quote Fox Mulder?" Archie asked in disbelief.

"I take it you're an X-Files fan?"

"That's from First Person Shooter." Archie said giving Andy her answer.

"Season 7 episode 13" She confirmed

"My favorite episode." They both confessed at the same time. They both laughed and caught each other's eyes for a second.

"There you are. I've been looking for you." Nick called from the hallway. "Let's roll!" Nick stopped at the doorway with Greg on his heels.

"Well thanks again for saving me. I'll see you around." She waved to him and followed Nick and Greg out.

"Yeah you will." He replied as she was out of earshot.

"I thought you were assigned to another case?" Andy asked Greg

"Grissom told me to come with you guys. According to SuperDave the house is huge." Greg had taken the courtesy of brining Andy's kit with him so she didn't have to run back to the break room and he insisted on carrying it to the Denali. He even opened the car door for her. Nick couldn't help but notice. It wasn't that he didn't think Greg was good enough for his sister, but if Greg started dating Andy then there would be no swapping girl stories anymore. Because whenever Greg would tell one of his stories he would know who the girl was, and he would have to break Greg's face. And as said before, he liked Greg and would hate to have to hurt him…or his ego.

"Who is SuperDave?" Andy asked intrigued

"The assistant coroner." Nick answered from the passenger seat.

"Jeez, how many more nicknames do I need to remember?" She muttered to herself as she climbed into the big SUV.

With Warrick Driving, and Nick busy trying to find a nice way to tell Greg back off his sister, the small talk in the SUV was mostly contributed by Andy and Greg, who let slip that he is also a big X-Files fan. About 6 minutes into the drive Andy asked the million dollar question. "So where is our crime scene anyway?"


	3. Family Ties

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 3: Family Ties**

_"So where is our crime scene anyway?"_

Before anyone could give a response to the impatient girl in the backseat, the Denali pulled to a stop in front of a large house. The four inhabitants of the Denali eyed the house with caution. It looked like the kind of houses in the movies that would possess all it's occupants into chaos and destruction. The paint was chipping off and a layer of gray dirt overlapped the, use to be white, shutters. The windows were either busted out, broken or boarded up; and the lawn was way past the due date of a nice mowing. Warrick, Nick and Greg opened their doors so Andy replicated. She followed Warrick to the rear of the SUV to grab their kits.

"So how do you like everyone at the lab?" Warrick asked the new CSI as she was leaning in the giant trunk tiring to grab her kit which slid to the back of the trunk.

"Good. Hey, speaking of which." Andy said straitening up. Warrick reached one long arm in the trunk and pulled out her kit with little to no effort. "Thanks, umm, what's the deal with the A/V guy, Archie?" Warrick is like a surrogate brother to Andy so she always asks him all the questions she would be too embarrassed to ask just anyone and not stupid enough to ask Nick.

"Archie? Really?" Warrick said with mild disbelief

"Why not?"

"I don't know I guess I pegged you for a Sanders girl myself."

"Greg? Why, did he say something?" The hopefulness too apparent in her own voice for her liking.

Warrick's response was only a smile. She hated when he did that. "You're going to give your brother a heart attack."

Nick and Greg appeared from around the side of the Denali as Warrick picked up his kit and headed up to the house. As Andy was looking over the contents of her kit, Warrick gave Greg a heads up. "Looks like AV boys giving you some competition."

"Archie? Are you kidding me?" Greg whispered back. Andy didn't hear the exchange, but Nick sure did. He just looked at his two counterparts and shook his head. She hasn't even been here for a full shift and already it looked as if Nick was going to have to break some legs. He turned back around to face his sister.

"You ready?" Nick asked Andy picking up his kit from the trunk.

"As I'll ever be." She responded and then followed her co-workers and her brother to the first official case of her career. Captain Jim Brass was at the moment scribbling something in his notebook by the police tape.

"Hey Jim" Nick greeted as they made their way up the slight hill.

"Hey Guys," Brass replied looking a little stressed.

"What ya got for us?" Warrick asked

"We got a possible murder suicide, multiple DB's Blood in virtually every room of the 2nd floor." He stopped to take a deep breath. "It's a nightmare in there." Even though it was Andy's first case, she knew that was code for 'very gruesome' and 'very long shift'.

"Who called it in?" Greg asked. Andy was mentally keeping notes on all the questions being asked.

"Some Punk kids who lost a bet." That explained a lot…not. Jim noticed the blank look on their faces so he continued. "The house had been abandoned for about 25 years now and apparently it is haunted. They lost a bet and had to spend the night in the house. Found the bodies and called the police."

"I'll go grab some prints and DNA!" Greg said and started walking over to the kids.

"Well let's get started." Nick added, "Thanks Jim."

"Yeah" As if her first case in a haunted house didn't have her spooked enough, Jim's response made Andy's stomach queasy. What had him so bugged out?

As they walked closer to the house on haunted hill a chill was sent down their back and up their arms.

"The size of the house makes my apartment look like a walk-in closet." Warrick chuckled at Andy's comments. Nick smiled, not because of what she said, but because of what it meant. Nick knows Andy has a habit of poking fun at just about anything when she gets even a little scared.

"Don't feel bad Andy, I was scared shitless at my first crime scene too." Nick added for reassurance.

A wave of intimidation came over Andy like a ton of bricks. It was either the house sucking her in or the fact that she now has to live up to the expectations Nick has set. For the sake of her sanity she went with option number 2. Andy was closer to Nick than any other family member and really doesn't want to let him down. A loud bang brought her out of her daze.

One of the shutters that were still fully attached to the house started opening and closing make a loud racket in the middle of the quiet Las Vegas night. Andy started thinking about what lurked in the shadows of the room beyond. Her imagination got the best of her when she felt a hand squeeze around her bicep. Andy jumped, dropping her kit.

"Whoa whoa there sweetie," The hand belonged to a rather handsome police officer. But his grip was too tight to be welcome. "Who are you?" He asked before he moved his hand from her arm to her upper chest and proceeded to 'escort' her off the porch.

"I'm with them." Andy replied startled by the man's sudden approach.

"Nose down O'Brian." Warrick said with a little more threat in his voice then what was really necessary. "This is Andy, our new CSI."

Officer O'Brian gave Warrick a wicked smile then turned his glare back at Andy. He pulled the ID, that was clipped to her jeans, off and examined it. He eyed the ID then eyed Andy.

"Stokes?" He said with such distaste Andy was actually taken aback. "You kidding me?"

"She's my sister." Nick replied with venom slithering in and out of his words.

"Is that a problem Mark?" Warrick added not taking his eyes off Mark O'Brian.

"Another Stokes? Well there goes the neighborhood." He chucked Andy's ID at her so suddenly she only barley caught it.

"Hey," Nick said in a whisper that only the 4 of them could hear. The threat was imminent. He stepped closer to O'Brian so that he formed a barrier between Mark and Andy. "What ever problem you have is between you and me. You leave her out of it. Do you hear me?" Nick is such a loving, carefree guy; Andy rarely has to see this side of him and it scared the shit out of her. Mark just smiled.

"Come on Andy, we'll take the bottom floor. Nick you take top." Warrick said trying to calm everyone down. He always manages to remain level headed no matter what the situation. That was a trait anyone could wish would rub off on them. Andy was impressed at the way the boys handled the situation, she always manages to let her emotions get the best of her. Especially her anger. Andy can hold a grudge like nobody's business. And Mark was sure to pluck her last nerve. No one picks on a Stokes and gets away with it.

Andy walked past Warrick to pick up her kit and she couldn't help but notice O'Brian's eyes on her the whole time. Not wanting Andy to hear, Warrick waited until she made it to the doorway to turn around and looked O'Brian directly in the eyes. "You'll stay away from her if you know what's good for you."

But Andy heard what Warrick said. She silently followed Nick deeper into the house and when she thought they were far enough away from the front door her frustration got the best of her.

"What the hell was that about?" she nearly yelled.

"He's not your problem to worry about." Nick said as if that was going to make her shut up. Did he forget how stubborn she was? Greg entered the house from the back door and immediately sensed trouble.

"What I miss?" Greg asked concerned.

"Officer O'Brian decided to personally violate me and I think I deserve an explanation as to why." Greg's head shot to Nick then to Warrick. "Greg if you know something so help you god…"

"His family is form Dallas County," Nick gave in. "and...Dad put one of his cousins away for awhile and O'Brian won't let it go. Me and Warrick kinda got into it with him a little while back."

"Should I be concerned?"

"Sweetie, you have nothing to worry about." Warrick said sternly

"Yeah, other than the fact that a police officer that is responsible for my safety has a personal vendetta out for my family."

"Andy…" Nick tried to speak

"Did you see the way he grabbed me?"

"He grabbed you?" Greg said in disbelief.

"Andy let it go." Nick warned. "Greg you come with me we'll start upstairs."

Greg followed Nick up the steps and when they were at the top Warrick turned to Andy.

"It's not as bad as you think."

"What happened between you two and O'Brian?" Andy asked finally starting to calm down.


	4. Cub Scout

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 4: Cub Scout**

The lounge was the second largest room in the house. Equipped with furniture as old, and a fireplace as tall, as Andy Stokes herself. Directly in the center of the room was David Phillips, bent over one of the victims, a man of about 30.

"Hi Warrick, forgive me for not waiting, it's a busy night."

"You're just doing your job David. No need to apologize." Warrick assured

David looked up at the CSI when he noticed a brunette girl with him. "Oh, you must be Andrea." she nodded.

"Where are my manners," Warrick joked. "David this is Andy Stokes, Andy this is David Phillips. He's the assistant coroner." Warrick introduced them.

"Oh, Superdave?"

"That's me." Dave replied with a smile and an extra tinge of red in the cheek area.

"What can you tell us about the body?" Andy Asked

"There are no physical signs of trauma. You'll have to wait till the autopsy to determine the cause of death."

"What about TOD?"

"Based on decomp and liver temp I would say about 3 days." The coroners wrapped up and hauled the body off, leaving Warrick and Andy alone in the giant room to do there thing. Warrick had Andy dusting for prints off the door frame.

"What?" Warrick asked

"I didn't say anything." Andy stopped what she was doing and gave Warrick a weird look before bringing her attention back to her kit. She pulled a lift tape out of her kit when she actually started to speak.

"So are you going to tell me what happened or do I need to go seduce Sanders?"

"You snap your fingers that boy will come running." Warrick teased. Andy looked up at him and smiled.

"It's a gift!" She teased back.

"I was just your brother's back-up" Warrick said walking across the room.

"Back-up?" Andy asked concerned

Warrick stopped behind Andy and glanced over the shorter girls shoulder to check on her progress. "O'Brian accused Nick of planting evidence." Andy turned around to look Warrick in the face.

"That's a pretty heavy accusation."

"Tell me about it. That was before we knew who he was. We did a little investigating and found out he transferred here from Dallas and your dad was the judge that put his cousin away for attempted murder."

"What happened? I mean you proved Nick innocent right?"

"Yeah, the Paramedics admitted to seeing the evidence way before CSI arrived on the scene."

"You think he was trying to get Nick fired?"

"It's possible."

"Tell me the truth, should I be concerned?" She asked again.

"Look as long as you have me and Nick you have nothing to worry about." Warrick said seriously. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I appreciate that but you and Nick aren't always going to be there. In the future I might even be put on a case by myself." Andy argued. "Should I be issued a gun?"

"You don't have a gun?"

"I have pepper spray, I don't like guns."

"You're from Texas and you don't like guns?" Warrick asked amused.

"Why does everyone say that?" She said mostly to herself as she turned back around to finish her work. "You got the time?"

"Eleven twenty-two." Warrick said glancing at his watch. "Got somewhere to be?" Warrick joked. Andy's head snapped from the fingerprint to out in the dark hallway. "What's wrong?" Warrick asked concerned.

"Nothing, I...I just thought I saw something." Andy hesitated, then pulled the lift tape off the wall and stored it in her kit.

"This house has you spooked."

"This house does not...AHHH!" She stood up to lift the second print form the frame when the sight of something in the doorway scared her. "Greg, what is the matter with you." Warrick started cracking up and when her heart slowed down Andy cracked a smile.

"I come bearing gifts." Greg teased. "Here," he handed Andy and Warrick each a bottle of water. "One of the officers has a cooler in the trunk of his cruiser."

Nick appeared in the doorway of the lounge looking slightly paler than usual.

"Hey Warrick, I think you need to come see this." Warrick set his water bottle down on his kit and headed to the door. Andy followed.

"Hold on there Cub Scout." Nick said putting a hand on Andy's shoulder pushing her back into the room.

"What?"

"You stay here; I don't want you seeing this."

"Look I appreciate you trying to protect me but..." Andy said slightly annoyed.

"But, this is your first case and you don't need to be seeing this yet." Nick looked and sounded sincere.

"Fine," Andy replied giving in as she turned and walked back in the lounge slightly aggravated at Nick for treating her like his little sister on a crime scene. "Can you believe him?" she asked Greg.

"I hate to say it Tex, but he's right. It's not healthy if you're exposed to, too much, too soon." Andy mentally admitted that he had a point...and nice lips. "We don't want to scare you off." Greg smiled and her mood brightened.

"It's gonna take more than a dead body to scare me away Greg." They both smiled. She bent over her kit to get back to work. "You know I was terrified to come to Vegas?"

"Really?" He lifted the bottle to his lips and drained it dry.

"Yeah, I mean I grew up in a Small town where the only threat was if Mrs. Johansan didn't win the pie baking contest at the spring festival." She turned around from the wall and looked at Greg with a smile. "If you want to hear a sweet 80 year old lady drop the F bomb, you have another sweet 80 year old lady win the pie baking contest...or yell Bingo." Andy had a special kind of humor only someone like Greg could thoroughly enjoy. Andy smiled remembering her little town, then came back down to reality with a slight frown. "I never thought that the first time I got harassed in Vegas it would be by a police officer." Greg could see the change in her eyes; it was something he didn't like. He took it upon himself to make her eyes have that sparkle again.

"O'Brian is a coward..." Greg reassured "…as long he knows what Nick and Warrick will do to him if he touched even a hair on your pretty little head, he'll keep his distance."

"Are you flirting with me Sanders?" Andy asked playfully

"Possibly," He answered slyly. She did not expect that answer but managed to keep her composure.

"Don't let Nick hear that." She warned, half playing, half serious. Nick never took a liking to any of Andy's boyfriends or any guy who took interest in her for that matter.

"It's gonna take more than an older brother to scare me away Andy." And with that he left the room in silence and left Andy in shock.


	5. Reflection

Caution: Long Chapter

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 5: Reflection**

"How's Andy doing?" Nick asked Warrick as he led the way up the staircase.

"Good, I have her lifting prints and photographing evidence. Hey, I think you should know. I told her what happened with O'Brian."

"What!"

"She's very persuasive. She threatened to seduce Sanders for information. I figured it was best she heard it from one of the sources."

"Yeah, I guess your right. I wanted to talk to about this. How do you feel about what happened earlier?"

"On the porch? I think O'Brian just wanted to show off."

"I don't know. There was something about him just gave me a bad vibe. Did you see the way he looked at her?" Nick stopped in front of a closed door and turned to look at Warrick. His temper started to rise slightly, "You know how I get Warrick. If he touches her I won't be able to control myself."

"He doesn't have the guts Nick." Warrick's words calmed Nick down.

"Alright, enough small talk. Are you ready?" Nick said putting his hand on the door knob. "It's nasty in here." Nick warned

"Let's get it over with."

Nick opened the door and the first thing Warrick saw was the blood that covered the walls and ceiling. There wasn't a square foot in the room that didn't have at least one blood drop occupying the space. The room held two Beds, two Dressers and two night stands. On the floor were the bodies of two males and one naked female.

The bodies had a mixture of deep and shallow lacerations over their arms and legs, face beaten in beyond recognition, dark bruises on their abdomen, the blonde male had a deep laceration across his neck, and what looked like stab wounds on the females upper chest. All three bodies were lying in a pool of their own dried blood. It truly was a scene out of someone's worst nightmare.

Warrick took a deep breath, "Smart move keeping Andy downstairs," Warrick praised Nick, "I've been doing this a long time and I'm barely holding down my dinner."

"Tell me about it." Nick agreed. "Greg and I went through most of the rooms on this floor, these guys put up a fight. We found blood in almost every room; and I'm not talking about a drop or two. Spatter on the walls in most of the rooms look like it could be cast off."

"Brass said it looked to be a murder suicide." Warrick said confused "Well, they sure as hell didn't do this to themselves and the vic downstairs showed no sign of physical trauma."

"So were missing a body. Did you sweep the entire downstairs?"

"No, we only got to the Kitchen and the Lounge, the two biggest rooms. We still have two, three smaller sitting rooms to look into."

"Okay I'll start up here, you find Greg have him help Andy sweep the downstairs, then get your ass back up here. I'm not doing this all by myself."

"Sure thing." Warrick walked out of the nightmare room and made his way back to the lounge only to find it empty. He took the opportunity to collect his thoughts. He knew that room was going to stick with him for a while.

A loud voice came from behind him. He turned around expecting to see Andy or Greg but instead he saw nothing. He couldn't make out what the voice was saying, only that it sounded pissed. Unable to stand being alone he went to search the house for Andy.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After 10 minutes of diligent print taking there were no more prints in the room to lift; and being the newbie Andy technically wasn't aloud to do anything elaborate without immediate supervision. She waited for Warrick for about 3 minutes before ADHD kicked in, so she grabbed the compact digital camera she was issued, and decided to go on a little tour of the house. She walked around the rest of the downstairs taking pictures of anything that seemed out of place; a broken vase here, a busted mirror there. She was in the study when she past by her 3rd broken mirror when something dawned on her. She stood there staring at the hard brown backing of what once held a mirror, thinking to herself.

"What are you doing?" Warrick said from the doorway. Andy jumped and placed a hand on her chest.

"You scared me." She stated the obvious. Warrick chuckled.

"You know you're not supposed to wonder around alone." Warrick stated

"I know but, there wasn't anything else I could do in the lounge so I figured I could walk around and take some pictures."

"That look on your face tells me found something!"

"Two things actually," She said proudly, "First, I noticed that for an abandoned house there seems to be a lot of activity."

"Good observation" Warrick said impressed, "but kids break into abandoned houses all the time."

"Okay Mr. Find-an-excuse-for-everything." Andy said to Warrick. He just smiled at her determination. "What's your excuse for this?" She pointed to the busted mirror.

"What is that a cork board?" Warrick asked amused.

"What is that a cork board?" Andy mocked Warrick. "No, it's a frame that at one point held a mirror. Granted I haven't been upstairs yet but I'm willing to bet that at one point there were a lot of mirrors in this house. Now…there's not one reflective surface in this entire place. All the mirrors are busted, all the pots and pans are black, the utensils are hard plastic and even the sink is ceramic. Who puts a ceramic sink in the kitchen?"

"Did you take pictures of the stuff in the kitchen?" Andy shook her head. "You run and take the pictures while I go find Greg. I'm going to have you shadow him while I help Nick upstairs. Meet me in the lounge."

"You got it." She replied as they both headed in separate directions. She made it to the kitchen, took her pictures and started walking back into the lounge. When she reached the doorway to the kitchen she saw something out of the corner of her eye and whirled around to find…nothing.

"Stupid house," Andy said aloud. She turned the corner to head past the staircase when something caught her attention. She stopped abruptly and started at the empty landing at the top of the stairs. Andy had no idea what she was looking for but she couldn't look away. She started to make her way up the steps without taking her eyes off the landing. She managed to make it about half way when she heard Warrick call for her. She snapped out of her daze and yelled back, "I'm coming!"

After another long glance at the landing she started walking back down the steps, scolding herself for her lack of control, when she felt something on her ankle and tripped down the last 3 steps. She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. She laid on her stomach trying to catch her breath before turning around onto her back. If it wasn't for the fact that she had just fallen down the steps, she would bet a large sum of money that she just saw someone standing at the top of the staircase. Andy laid her head down and rubbed her eyes. Almost afraid, she glanced at the top of the steps again, no one was there. She stood up slow and looked around her feet for her camera. She found it laying about 4 feet away against the wall. She picked it up and pushed the on/off button.

"Please work, please work please..." the screen lit up bright to show the wood floor and Andy's black converse all-star shoes, "Yes!" Andy took one last glance at the top of the steps, snapped a picture to make sure the flash worked, then started walking to the lounge.

"There you are." Warrick said as she entered the large room. Greg was standing to the left of Andy's kit. He was holding a clipboard writing something down.

"Sorry, I got side tracked." Greg looked up at her, back at his clipboard, then did a double take back to her face.

"What happened to you?" he asked. The sound of concern in his voice made Warrick look up from packing his kit.

"What?" Andy said as Warrick walked over to her.

"You're bleeding." He put his hand on her chin and tilted her head to the side to look at the cut. It was barely covered by her hairline above her right eye.

"Oh, I fell down the stairs." She answered embarrassed.

"What were you doing upstairs?" Warrick asked

"Are you okay?" Greg asked at the same time Warrick asked his question.

"I'm fine Greg, I only fell down the bottom three; and I just thought I saw something on the steps so I went to check it out I never made it all the way up."

"Don't you think you should get checked out?" Greg asked

"It was only 3 steps Greg."

"Out!" A small but angry voice cried from behind the CSI's, Andy, Warrick and Greg snapped there heads to the doorway.

"Please tell me you heard that too?" Andy asked hopefully

"Yeah" Warrick replied. "I've been hearing something since we got here. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me."

"It's probably just the wind." Greg said sounding more like he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

"Yeah," Andy said not convinced. "The wind sounds pissed." They walked out into the foyer when a loud noise made the 3 CSI's jump out of their skin.

BANG

"What was that?" Andy said as her heart started racing. The noise sounded like it was coming form right next to them.

BANG BANG

"What is that?" Andy asked again

"I don't know." Warrick answered

Nick appeared at the landing of the steps and started walking down. "What the hell are you guys doing down here? What was that noise?" Nick asked, then stopped at the bottom when he saw Andy's bleeding forehead. "Andy why are you bleeding?"

"I fell down the stairs." Andy said looking around for the source of the noise. Before Nick could interrogate her about her injury any further the loud noise started to bang constantly. Andy covered her ears with her hands.

BANG BANG BANG BANG…

"Where is that coming from?" Greg yelled over the noise

BANG BANG BANG BANG…

"It sounds like its coming form the whole house!" Warrick answered. Then pure silence. Andy removed her hands from her ears. This was not the silence like in a normal house at night, but the silence where your ears didn't even ring from the lack of noise. Not even a creak of wood could be heard. Nick only remembered one time he heard such a deafening silence. Panic started to build up in his chest making him feel clausrophobic, but he made a promise to himself he wasn't going to get carried away with his memories. He almost let himself go until Andy started singing.

"I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes, talking with strangers, waiting in line." Andy looked around and saw the 3 men looking at her like she had gone crazy. "Sorry…I've never heard silence like that before. I needed to make sure I wasn't deaf." She tried to smile to reassure the boys she was alright, but failed miserably.

"There is something not right with this house!" Nick sounded worried

"Do you guys feel like you being watched? Like…no matter where I go in this house, I feel like something is watching me." Greg said

"Look the sooner we get done the sooner we get out. Greg, take Andy and sweep the rest of the downstairs were looking for a possible suicide victim."

"I already looked in the other rooms. I found a lot of broken mirrors but no dead body."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked

"I don't think I'm going to overlook a dead body Nick." Andy answered offended.

"Andy I…" Nick tried to apologize but Andy cut him off.

"Forget it. Look if Brass said it was a murder suicide then he must have seen the suicide victim. Call him. Find out if the coroners already took the vic away. Superdave said it was a busy night."

Warrick pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number for Captain Jim Brass. Andy looked at Nick, hurt written in her eyes, then headed back into lounge. "Andy" He called out to her. When she didn't stop he followed her.

"Andy wait up" She stopped in front of her kit and picked up her bottle of water. "I didn't mean it like that okay. It just came out wrong."

"You're never going to treat me the same as them," She said with a smile. But the smile was just a front. Like her oldest brother Jamie always says, you got to laugh to keep from crying. "I should have expected it but…"

"Expect what exactly?" Nick cut Andy off. He was starting to get annoyed. Nick had forgotten how stubborn Andy can be.

"I'm never going to be your co-worker." Her voice was slightly louder than she intended. "I'm always going to be the little sister that decided to tag along. I went to school too Nick, I got my degree, did my time."

"I know!"

"So stop treating me like an ignorant child."

"I didn't mean it like that Andy." Annoyance starting to settle

"It sure sounded like that."

"Look," Nick glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. When he confirmed that they were in fact alone, he continued, "You said you've never heard silence like that before…well I have." Nick said calming down. Andy's head shot up, but a look of worry replaced her previous look of hurt. Nick moved closer to her and lowered his voice, "It brought back a couple of unwanted memories and…I just want to get the hell out of this house. It's creeping me out. I was just hoping you and Greg would find something down here so we can finish processing and leave…" Nick smiled "I didn't mean to make you feel like an ignorant child." Andy smiled too.

"I guess I forgive you, but only because you're buying me breakfast after shift."

"Fine" Nick agreed "but only because you're my little sister and I love you." She smiled, picked up her kit and made her way back to the foyer with Nick in tow. Andy sat her kit down and starting scrolling trough the pictures she had already taken.

"I don't get it, I have full bars, but all I get is static." Warrick explained when Nick asked about Brass.

"Is there a basement." Greg piped up. Andy brought her eyes slowly up to Greg's at the thought of having to go into the basement.

"Way to go Greg! Andy do you gave a gun yet?"

"I'm not getting one." She replied to Nick, "I don't like guns." She explained to Greg who just gave her a small smile.

"Do you want one of us to clear the basement for you?" Warrick asked

"No I can handle it." Greg answered. Nick noticed Greg's hand brush something on his side.

"Greg my man, are you packing heat?" Nick asked with a smile; Warrick's eyes shot to Greg like he had just lost a bet. Greg nodded.

"Good for you." Nick said putting a hand on Greg's shoulder.

As Andy followed Greg to the basement stairs, Warrick pulled out a 50 dollar bill from the front his wallet and handed it to Nick.


	6. Surveillance

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 6: Surveillance**

It was only after they walked away from Warrick and Nick did the level one and the newbie realize they had no idea where the basement actually was. Of course they knew it was under them, but how to get there remained a mystery. After about five minutes of looking for the stairs, Greg got bored and decided they would play 20 questions to help pass time.

"Favorite color?" Greg asked as he opened a door to a closet.

"Lame." Andy said wrinkling her forehead; the blood on Andy's forehead was starting to dry and that made it itch like crazy.

"Your favorite color is lame?" Greg mocked Andy

"Noooo, your question is lame. My favorite color is green," Andy answered smiling form ear to ear. "What yours?"

"I thought my question was lame?" Greg asked Andy smiling back.

"Oh did I say your question was lame, I meant to say you are lame. Sorry for the confusion." Andy retorted sarcastically. All Greg could do was smile. It's been a while since Greg could just be himself around a girl. He only knew Andy for coming up on 5 hours now but, he never felt a need to put up a front.

"You have a good sense of humor…how are you related to Nick?" Greg returned the sarcasm as Andy opened up a door to a closet full of cleaning supplies.

"Man, how many closets can one house need?" Andy said annoyed slamming the door shut.

"Hey can we talk for a minute?" Greg said seriously

"What have we been doing for the past half hour?"

"Ha-ha-ha. Seriously though, I've been thinking about something you said earlier and I want to talk to you about it." Andy looked at Greg.

"I'm all ears"

"I know we just met and everything but, I feel like we connect well. I feel like we understand each other, and I was wondering if…" Andy stood there incapable of speech, was he really doing what she thought he was doing? "…I could give you some advice." Andy did not expect that to be the end of his sentence.

"Greg, you don't have to ask to give me advice."

"When we get back to the lab…put in your application to be issued a gun." Greg turned around to head towards another door.

"They make me nervous." She admitted. He looked at her from across the hall. She looked embarrassed.

"A couple of rounds at a gun range will clear that right up. Take it from someone who knows, you can never be too safe on the job."

"Do you mind me asking what happened?" She said placing her hand on a door knob but just standing there looking at Greg, who at the moment was closing a door to a bathroom.

"Long story short, I got my ass kicked by a mob of kids. I was in the hospital for about a week." Greg turned away from her to open the second to the last door.

"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Wow"

"Did you find the steps?" Andy asked

"Better!" Greg replied.

Andy walked into a room to find on the far wall, a table with several computer screens, each with a feed from a different room, and a device that looked like about 12 DVD players stacked one on top of the other.

"Why would a 25 year abandoned house have surveillance?" Just then there was a loud crash that sounded like it came from close by. Both CSI's heads snapped toward the doorway.

"Stay here" Greg said drawing his gun. Andy followed him to the doorway and watched him disappear down the hall. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. She walked back over to the surveillance equipment, trying to rid her head of the thoughts about her brother's friend.

On the top left monitor, was Warrick and Nick working on a room with 3 DB's, and on the bottom left, she saw SuperDave tending to a dead body in what she thought could be the basement. As she searched her eyes averted to the monitor that held the image of her…and a man standing in the doorway behind her.

Her heart started to race, the man looked to be too big to be Greg, and Nick and Warrick were still on the monitor for the upstairs. Andy was frozen; she didn't know what to do. Her mace was in her kit, and her kit was in the hallway. The man started to walk forward slowly. And Andy's heart started to beat faster, and faster, and faster until she broke out into a full fledged panic attack. She fell to the floor and started to convulse.

"Andy!" Andy opened her eyes to see Mark O'Brian bending over her. Andy suddenly noticed how alone she was and after that escapade earlier she knew she shouldn't be alone with Mark.

"Why are you bleeding?" Mark asked as he pulled Andy to her feet.

"I fell down the steps." Andy answered. Andy had no idea why he was helping her but she knew it wasn't for her own good.

"And you didn't think to clean it up? What if you contaminate evidence?" Mark said with a smile. He was provoking her.

"I haven't contaminated any evidence…" Andy said sternly, holding her ground.

"Where's Warrick?" Mark asked

"Upstairs helping Nick…" Andy replied before she could stop herself.

"They left you by yourself?"

"No," Andy replied quickly. "We heard a crash and Greg went to go see what it was." She tried to explain.

"So they left you with Greg, then Greg left you by yourself."

"I should go find Greg." Andy said about to walk past Mark. He stopped her by putting a hand on her upper chest and pushing her back, he kept his hand on her shoulder.

"He's already dead." Andy's heart dropped.

"What?"

"Are you armed Andy?"

"I have mace. Where's Greg?" She demanded

"Where is your mace?"

"In my kit, what did you do to Greg?" She was yelling now.

"Where's your kit?" Mark asked

"In the hallway." Mark moved his hand from her shoulder to grab her collar and connected his fist with her face. She fell to the floor, blood coming from the corner of her lip.

"Mace isn't going to help you now is it?" He said kicking her in the stomach. He reached down and grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her up off the cold ground. "I didn't think I was actually going to enjoy this."

She sucked some blood out of her cut and spat it in his face. With all the force he could muster he threw her into the table holding the computer monitors. With a loud crash the monitors toppled over some of them falling on her, she laid there on the brink of unconsciousness. Climbing on top of her, he grabbed her collar once more lifting her head off the ground and gave her one good, swift punch.

"Andy…"Mark said shaking her. "Andy…"

The voice changed to a softer more caring tone "Andy wake up…Andy…Andy you have to breathe" a familiar voice demanded. A pair of hands grabbed her face and held her head up from hitting the floor. "Andy, you have to calm down...you're okay." She shot her eyes open.

"Greg!" She called out before she could take in her surroundings,

"I'm right here." He called out from close by. She looked to her right to find she was in the arms of her supervisor Gil Grissom, with Greg looking at her form over Grissom's shoulder. They both had concerned looks on their faces. She looked to her left to find all the computer monitors still intact on the table she thought she had just collided with.

"What happened?" she asked confused.

"You passed out." Greg answered. Grissom helped Andy to her feet. She looked at the monitors, _it was just a dream,_ she assured herself.

"There is something wrong with this house." Andy said

"Greg tells me you all think the house is haunted?" Grissom said with an amused smile.

"I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye, then when I look to see what it was, there's nothing." Grissom pulled Andy's hair to the side to show her wound. He raised an eyebrow at all the dried blood.

"You have an open wound on your head and you just had a seizer. I take it form the dried blood you haven't had this checked yet?"

"No" she confessed.

"You probably have a concussion. That could explain the minor hallucinations." Grissom stated with sympathy for the young girl. "You should have gotten that checked, you could have contaminated evidence."

"What about the noises? We've all been hearing things." Andy blew off Grissom's request to get her head checked. Andy hated hospitals, paramedics and doctors, anything that would involve getting a needle.

"It's rather windy outside."

"What about the mirrors? Where are all the mirrors?" She asked proudly like she was going to stump him.

"This house is abandoned Andy, there are kids breaking in here all the time."

"You can make all the excuses you want, but that doesn't mean there true." Andy retorted. Grissom respected her for standing her ground. None of the new guys ever stood up for there thoughts or theories to Grissom.

"What kind of an abandoned house has surveillance?" Greg asked. Grissom dusted off the top of one of the monitors.

"We ID'd one of the Vic's." He pointed to the screen with David loading up the suicide victim. "He had a work badge attached to his pants the logo matches this one." Grissom pointed to the part of the monitor he just dusted and Greg and Andy walked closer.

"Ghost Hunters Of South Terrace." Greg read out loud.

"Also known as GHOST." Grissom added

"As in the TV show?" Andy asked in disbelief.

"Yes, the DB in the basement worked for the network. He was monitoring the house for paranormal activity." Grissom answered

"Did they find anything?" Greg asked excited.

"We won't know until we get these taps back to the lab. Andy I think you should head back to the lab with me and let Greg, Warrick and Nick finish the scene."

"What! Why?"

"You just had a seizer."

"I'm fine, I didn't have a seizer…it was just a panic attack. It happens every now and then. Like when someone sneaks up on me in a haunted house."

"I apologize" Grissom said with amusement.

"I accept." Andy stated, "But I'm not leaving."

"I'm your boss, I can make you." Grissom stated with a smirk

"But you're not going to." She said with a smile. Grissom rolled his eyes.

"Sweep the basement then get these tapes back to the lab. I'm going to go help Nick and Warrick."

After Grissom had left the room and could no longer be seen in the hallway. Andy turned, walked up to Greg and wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug. Even though he was confused, he wrapped his arms around the shorter girl. She broke free and started to walk away.

"What was that for?" Greg asked confused. She just looked at him with a smile and shrugged her shoulders. She walked out the room and Greg took the opportunity to collect himself. He made up his mind that he did like Andy, but the fact that Andy was his friend's sister made things complicated.

"We can get the surveillance tapes after we're done in the basement." Greg said walking out of the room. "I think…"Greg cut his sentence short when he noticed Andy standing at an open doorway, her smile was gone and she looked scared.


	7. Darkness Falls

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 7: Darkness Falls**

"Andy? Are you okay?" Greg called to her, slowly approaching. She was taking deep breaths while looking down a set of stairs. Greg couldn't see what she was looking at but something had her spooked.

"Greg, there's something you should know about me. I uh...never grew out of my childhood fear of the dark." She said walking back to her kit. Not wanting to do it in front of Greg but having no choice, she reached into her kit and pulled out an inhaler.

"You have asthma?" Greg asked. She nodded as she inhaled two puffs and replaced it back in her kit, but she didn't bring her hand out of the kit empty handed. Without Greg seeing, she slipped something into her back pocket. She took a deep breath letting her medicine take affect and walked back over to Greg.

"You gonna be okay?" she nodded. Only knowing her for less than one day, Greg already knew Andy was a talker. The fact that she was just nodding her head, he knew she was serious about her fear of the dark. "Here, you get to hold this." Greg said handing her the flashlight. Andy took the flashlight with a feeling of shock and relief at his gesture. She looked at the flashlight then right into his eyes.

"What, you're not going to make fun of me Sanders?" She asked with a broken voice, trying to smile, but failing miserably.

"Everybody's afraid of something." Greg admitted. "You ready?"

"Sure." She replied not very convincing. Greg unclasped the button on his leather holster and withdrew his gun with his right hand, which made Andy's nerves start jumping. Noticing her hand was shaking Greg reached out with his non gun holding hand and took Andy's hand in his own. They started walking down the steps one at a time, hand in hand.

"So what's your full name?" Greg asked leading the way down the dark staircase.

"I'm not really in the mood to play 20 questions right now Greg." Andy said with panic in her words.

"Andy is short for something right?" Greg continued like he didn't hear her.

"Andrea Lynn Stokes." Andy gave in.

"Andrea Lynn Stokes, do you have any pets?" They were about half way down.

"Siberian Husky."

"What's her name?"

"_His_ name is Kiddo."

"What do you like to do for fun?"

"Walk down basements of haunted houses." She replied sarcastically. Greg took her sarcasm as a sign that she was starting to calm down.

"Do you like food?"

"Can't live without it."

"Would you like to go to breakfast with me after shift?" Greg asked. She stopped on the second to the bottom step, which caused Greg to stop, as they were connected via hands.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Andy asked pointing the flashlight to the ceiling so she could see Greg's face without blinding him.

"It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be." Greg said feeling slightly disappointed.

"I never said I didn't want it to be a date?"

"Do you want it to be a date?" Greg asked hopeful.

"I never said that either." After an awkward pause Andy continued, "Can I take a rain check? It's just Nick already said he was buying be breakfast and if I don't take him up on it now, it will never happen." Greg smiled

"Why are you smiling?"

"Blue"

"You're smiling because of blue?" She asked confused

"Nooo, I'm smiling because you're not shaking anymore, my favorite color is blue." Now Andy shared the smile. Greg turned to walk and ran right into a door that was shutting the stairwell from the rest of the basement. "A little light would be nice."

"Sorry." Andy said pointing the flashlight at the doorknob.

Greg reluctantly lifted his fingers from Andy's warm hand to the cold knob of the door. He held his gun at the ready and pushed the door open. There were lights on the ceiling that dimly lit the basement.

"Stay close." Greg told Andy as they emerged from the stairwell. The stairs led them to the right of the room. The basement stretched the entire length of the house.

Several items of one of the shelves fell to the floor making Greg push Andy behind him and point his gun in the direction of the noise. Andy moved her light on the fallen items to see 3 rats scurrying away. Andy and Greg shared a nervous laugh. They walked around for a bit examining the items on the shelves when Andy noticed a fridge.

"There's fresh food in here."

Greg reached up and opened the freezer. "Pizza?" Greg said in disbelief. The entire freezer was stocked to the rim with microwaveable pizza.

Andy walked away shaking her head, "Could this house get any more weird?" Before Andy could get too far Greg pulled on her arm.

"Don't go to far there's something not right down here." About 5 minutes passed since they found the pizza stocked refrigerator, when Greg found something that gave him a chill that went straight to the bone.

"Hey Andy," Greg called out. "I think I found the mirrors."

"You make it sound so creepy." She walked up to Greg and pointed her flashlight in the same direction as his. "Holy shit" She said taking in the sight in front of her. "Sorry" she apologized putting her hand up to her mouth after realizing what she said. Greg smiled. Lined up on the wall were piles of different kinds of mirrors. Not one mirror was broken.

"There has to be at least a hundred mirrors here." Greg said in awe.

"What do you think it means? That they are all here in the basement." Andy had her thoughtful face on. She walked up to one of the mirrors and looked at her reflection.

"I don't know. Either someone was very ugly," Andy rolled her eyes "or very scared."

"Let's go with ugly." She said turning around to face Greg, "Are you okay?" Andy asked Greg, "You keep looking over your shoulder."

"Yeah," Greg looked uneasy "This house just gives me the creeps."

Greg snapped several pictures of the mirrors then turned around to talk to Andy but she wasn't there.

"Andy" Greg said in a normal speaking voice, "Andy!" Greg said a little louder.

"Hey Greg" He heard Andy's voice from about 30 feet to his left. "You have got to see this!" She sounded like she just found something interesting.

He started walking towards her voice, "I thought I told you to stay clo..." Greg was cut off when all of a sudden the lights cut out and Andy screamed his name.

"Andy!" Greg yelled trying to find her.

"I'm in here! I'm fine I just can't see anything and I'm a little freaked out cause I'm in a room with a coffin." she yelled calmly but there was a bit of fear in her words.

"What? Use your flashlight and come out into the main part of the basement."

"I can't. I dropped it when the light cut out." She admitted

"Okay…Sing that song you were singing earlier so I can follow your voice."

"I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes. Talking with strangers, waiting in line. I'm through with these pills that make me sit still, are you…" Her singing was cut short when she heard a noise coming from the room. "Greg?" Andy called out but got no answer. She knelt down on the floor to see if she could feel around for her flashlight when the lights kicked back on. She spotted her flashlight and picked it up. She stood up and noticed the coffin lid was open. She froze as she searched every memory of the room before the lights went out and swore that the lid was closed. Without a second thought she turned around to get out of the room and ran right into the arms of Mark O'Brian.

The images of her unconscious dream flew through her head. But if it came down to it she had her heavy duty flashlight she could bust over his head…if he wasn't holding onto her shoulders, and if she hadn't dropped it again.

"Easy there Tex!" He said. "Why so jumpy?" He had the same shit eating grin on his face as he had earlier in the night.

"Greg." She called out…no answer. "Where's Greg?" Andy asked uneasy, remembering her dream. Mark smiled.

"He's a bit…preoccupied at the moment." Andy tried to break free of his grasp but he just held on tighter.

"What do you want?"

"I'm sure I can think of something." He said. He leant in and kissed her neck. She thrashed herself around trying to break free but he pushed her up against the wall. Holding her in place with his body he reached his left hand up and grabbed her face, under her chin, and forced her to look at him. "There is an easy way and a hard way to do this Andy. It's your choice, but either way I'm going to get what I want." His voice was getting more aggressive the longer he talked.

"I hope you don't like your job O'Brian, cause when we get back upstairs I'm reporting you for sexual harassment."

"Well, I might as well give you something to report then huh?" He leant in and forced his lips onto hers. She thrusted her knee up, aiming for his groin but only hitting his leg. He shoved his body into to hers, pushing her against the wall harder. She felt something digging into her rear end.

"You listen to me. If you run your mouth I will make you wish you never met me."

"Too late, I kinda already wish I never met you." Andy said adding fuel to the flame. With one swift movement Mark punched Andy in the stomach. It's not like she does it on purpose. But just like Nick is the one with the temper, Andy is the one with the smart mouth.

"Think about Jillian and Roger." He said making Andy freeze. "They are your parent's, right?" He asked already knowing the answer. "And your sisters Jill and Pam; Your brother Jamie. The twins, Charlotte and Wesley." Andy felt the bile rising in her throat. "and of course Nick. You have a big family Andy. I would hate to have to release the hounds on them."

"What are you talking about?"

"My family has been keeping a rather close eye on your family…"

"I swear if anything happens to them you piece of sh...." She was cut off by Mark's hand slapping her across her face. He grabbed under her chin again, squeezing slightly harder.

"Don't interrupt me Andy!" He said behind gritted teeth. "Since your father decided to send my cousin to jail for self defense…"

"Your cousin is a murderer." She yelled. _Slap_

"What did I tell you?" He said grabbing her throat. She started gasping for air, her face turning red. "This next part is very important so stop suggest you stop interrupting." He loosened his grip on her throat but didn't remove his hand. She sucked in large breaths of air. "My family has a thirst for revenge. The only thing stopping them from slaughtering your family is my word. So I would keep this little confrontation up here," he touched her forehead, "if I were you."

He backed away slightly and she tried to knee him again, and he pushed against her again. "I can do this all night Stokes." With each push she felt the pain. She built up enough courage and reached for the pain in her but and pulled out her mace form her back pocket, spraying it in his eyes. Just as she hoped, he let go of her and she ran over to her flashlight. Grissom appeared in the doorway as her flashlight made contact with O'Brian's temple.

Andy stood there looking at O'Brian as Grissom called for a medic and a uniform. As much as he didn't want to do it, Andy just assaulted a police officer and he had to follow protocol.

"Andy," Grissom said pulling her out of her daze. She looked up at him, eyes wet with unshed tears. "Put down the flashlight and back away." Andy looked down at the flashlight in her hands. Noticing the blood and cracked lens, it all hit her at once.

She dropped the flash light and started backing away, moving her hand up to her mouth. "Oh my god!" She breathed unable to speak. The tears started rolling down her cheek as she was choking, trying to catch her breath. She ran out of the room almost knocking Grissom down. She had to get to her inhaler. She passed the medics and the officer in the large basement as she headed for the steps.

"Hey, kid." The officer called to her but when she didn't stop he ran after her. She managed to make it all the way up the steps when the officer caught up with her and managed to get his hand around her arm and pulled her to the ground on her stomach.

--

Nick and Warrick were at the top of the hall trying to get information from someone about what was going on when Nick saw the officer harshly throw his sister onto the ground and cuff her hands behind her back. The officer pulled her up in a sitting position, her back against the wall. Nick noticed her chest moving up and down very fast. He broke into a run no knowing what he wanted to do first, help his sister, or beat the pulp out of the officer for manhandling her like that.

"Move!" he yelled at the officer and knelt down in front of his little sister. "Sweetheart, where's your inhaler."

She tried her best to get out a sentence but all she manage to say was "k…kit…kit" Understanding what she was saying he started rummaging through her kit that was sitting five feet away. Warrick knelt down next to her and she leant her head on his chest. "hur…hurts" She breathed. Nick walked back over, inhaler in hand

"Ready? 1…2…3" Nick gave her inhaler a squeeze, spraying the medication into her mouth. She took a deep breath but turned her head and immediately started to cough. "Come on Andy!" Nick said with a tone that told Andy he was concerned. "You have to calm down" he demanded. She managed to get her breath semi even. "Try again. 1…2…3" Nick sprayed the medication again and she took a deep breath, holding it in for 5 seconds like she had done so many other times. "Good girl." She let out her breath and Nick held the inhaler back up to her mouth. "Again. 1…2…3" Her breathing started to return to normal but she was still having minor problems. "You okay?" He asked. She nodded.

Nick stood up and got in the officers face. "What the hell is your problem man?"

"Back off Stokes. I don't care if she is your sister, I was told to apprehend her."

"She's just a kid Carter. You're twice her size man. You could have seriously hurt her throwing her down like that."

"Collateral damage." The man said.

"I'll show you collateral damage." Nick said as Detective Brass walked up the steps.

"Nick." Brass called as he squatted next to Andy to check on her. Nick gave the officer one last look, then walked over to Jim. "Watch yourself. We have bigger problems on our hands right now."

"What the hell happened down there?" Nick asked. Jim stood up and pulled Nick and Warrick a couple feet away from Andy.

"Andy attacked Officer O'Brian with her Maglite." Jim said in a low voice. A medic appeared at the top of the steps and started to check Andy and make sure she was okay.

"What?! He must have done something, it was self defence" Nick said, his temper rising. Brass shrugged his shoulders.

"It's hard to tell. She used her mace on him too, that's a sign of self defense but according to Grissom, Mark was just standing there and Andy swung at his head."

"Grissom saw it happen?"

"Just the part where she hit him, in his temple."

"Is he going to press charges?" Warrick asked

"He's still unconscious."

"What's gonna happen to her Brass?" Nick asked straight up.

"It's not my decision. Someone ran their mouth and word already got out…Internal Affairs is taking over, investigating the incident."

Nick ran his hand threw his hair. He wished Andy was able to talk to him so he could get her side of the story.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask both of you to clear the hallway." Brass said walking over to Andy. Reluctantly Warrick and Nick started walking slowing down the hall. Nick stopped and looked back when he heard Brass reading Andy her rights. Brass helped her stand up. "Andy, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Any Questions?"

Andy shook her head, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Brass led her out of the house and down the front steps. Andy looked up to see a handful of cop cars and two ambulances. Sitting in the back of one of them, getting a wound above his left eye tended, was Greg. Andy's heart immediately jumped. They made eye contact for a moment. Greg jumped out of the back and started walking toward Andy. Brass put her into the back of his cruiser, so he headed instead toward Nick and Warrick.

"Hey Greg, what happened to you?" Warrick asked.

"I fell." Nick looked at Greg like he was trying to read his mind. Nick had no reason to not trust Greg but the position and size of his wound was not consistent with a fall.

Before Nick could confront Greg, Grissom walked out of the house and up to his CSI's who were at the moment, standing on the lawn observing the commotion. "Nicky, I think you should know that Detective Ortega will be conducting Andy's interview."

"He's going to rip her to pieces." Nick stated looking over at his sister.


	8. Interrogation and Incompetence

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 8: Interrogation and Incompetence**

She thought that the first time she would be in an interrogation room she would be on the other side of the table. Instead, Andy sat in interrogation room number three alone and afraid. She wasn't as much afraid of her punishment as she was of her father, when he finds out what she did. She sat still, staring at the table, wondering who was on the other side of the two-way glass, and what they were talking about.

_The only thing stopping them from slaughtering your family is my word_

His words played over and over in her head like a skipping record. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his face, distorted with the more anger then she has ever seen. Even Hollywood actors wouldn't be able to replicate the amount of hatred in his eyes. The door opened, pulling Andy back to reality from her flashback, and a tall man in a black suit walked in. He looked irritated, like he just had a hefty argument with someone before entering the room. He sat a notepad and a pen on the table but didn't speak until the recording device was switched on.

"Hello Ms. Stokes." He said taking a seat across from her. "I'm Detective Ortega with Internal Affairs. I'm going to ask you a few questions. Do you agree to answer with the best of your knowledge?" He said sounding just as irritated as he looked.

"Yes." Andy replied in a small voice.

"Explain with as much detail as possible what happened." He instructed. Andy took a deep breath and started explaining.

"CSI Greg Sanders and myself were assigned the basement…"

"I'm sorry I thought CSI Warrick Brown was your mentor." He cut her off.

"Yes Warrick is my mentor but CSI Nick Stokes needed help in one of the upper rooms. I'm not qualified enough and he needed someone with more experienced than level 1."

"So Brown left you alone?" Ortega asked

"No he didn't, what's with all the Warrick questions?" Andy said her temper started to rise. She didn't know where the Detective was going, but she didn't like it.

"Are you aware of the previous occurrence of a CSI getting into a troubling situation under Brown's supervision?"

"What?" She couldn't believe it. _She _sprayed mace in Mark's eyes, _she_ clocked Mark with her flashlight, _she_ attacked a police officer, and he was trying to put the blame on Warrick.

"Several years ago, Warrick Brown left a new CSI at a crime scene by herself. She was shot and later died on the operating table." He leant in with a look of a business proposition. "Now, I have the power were I can get you cleared of all charges…if you give me Warrick."

"Absolutely not." She answered without hesitation.

"You are looking at jail time for attacking an Officer. Are you prepared to go to jail for something that wasn't your fault?"

"He had nothing to do with my actions. The lights were cut so I started to panic, I pulled out my mace as a precaution. When they came back on, Officer O'Brian was standing there. He startled me, it all happened so fast I didn't realize what I did until after it happened. It's my fault, no one else's."

"Yes or no answers please," He became more irritated then when he had walked in the room. "Did you attack Officer Mark O'Brian with your department issued flashlight?"

"Yes." Andy said

"Is it true that you also sprayed him with your department issued mace?"

"Yes" She said starting to get annoyed.

"Were your actions a form of self defense?"

"No" Andy said after taking a deep breath.

"Do you feel that your actions could have been avoided?"

"Yes."

"If CSI Brown was watching you perhaps?"

"Okay, this has got to stop."

"Is CSI Brown your mentor?"

"Yes."

"Were you under his direct supervision when the incident occurred?"

"This is bullshit."

"I'll take that as a no." Detective Ortega was cut short by Captain Brass opening the door.

"Ortega, can I have a word with you?" Brass said leaning halfway into the room. He sounded more irritated than Ortega. Detective Ortega reluctantly stood up and walked out of the room. Andy could hear someone say 'She's just a kid' before the door was completely closed.

Andy could here their muffled voices from where she was sitting, but could not make out any words. The door opened again and Captain Brass stuck his head in.

"Andy, you're free to go."

"What? Really...how?" She asked as she made her way toward the half open door. She walked out to see not only Detective Ortega but also Officer O'Brian.

"I'm not pressing charges," O'Brian stated looking her in the eye with a smirk on his face. The area around his eyes was still pink from the mace and he had a nice welt next to his eye from where the flashlight made contact. "And the state is not pressing charges either." He said, this time eyeing up Detective Ortega. "I cleared everything up with Under Sheriff McKean...this was just a big misunderstanding that I hope we can all just forget this ever happened." He said returning his eyes back to Andy.

"Andy, Grissom wants to speak to you." Brass stated

"Of course"

--

"…She really did that? There has got to be something we can do." Warrick said sitting in Grissom's office.

"Andy has been cleared of all charges, I'm afraid our hands are tied." Grissom replied sitting at his desk.

"This is bullshit. How is it, he has the ability to clear her of everything, like it never happened?" Nick said pacing back and forth.

"He must have connections with someone." Warrick stated.

"I know Andy better then anyone and I know she wouldn't just whack someone with a heavy duty flashlight because she was startled. Grissom, she's lying."

"Why would she lie?" Grissom asked

"It's obvious he threatened her." Nick stated "What is Greg saying happened to him?"

"He says when the lights cut out he tripped over something." Warrick said amused.

"What do you think?" Grissom asked

"I think he doesn't know what happened, he's confused." Warrick answered

"Or O'Brian threatened him too." Nick added

"Well, his injuries are consistent with his story" Warrick said

"I wish we could say the same about Andy." Nick said before three knocks sounded form Grissom's office door.

The three men gave their attention to the door as Andy walked through. She kept her eyes on the floor, "You wanted to speak with me sir."

"Andy, have a seat." Andy walked past Nick and sat in the one of the chairs in front of Grissom's desk.

"Brass told me about your interrogation." Grissom started. She threw a side glance at Warrick. "I only have one question off the record, and I'm only going to ask it once…Did Officer O'Brian threaten you?" Nick stared at her face for any sign of a lie.

With the slightest movement, Andy nodded. At first Nick thought he blinked too hard, but when she looked up at him he could see it in her eyes. His heart started to race

"Okay," Grissom breathed. "I want you to go home with Nick tonight and rest." Grissom stated "Tomorrow I want you to help Archie with the surveillance tapes."

"Okay." She said standing up, "Oh um, where would I go to apply for a firearm?" Grissom opened his desk pulled out a paper and handed it to her.

"Fill it out, return it to me and we will schedule you an appointment to take the test."

"Thank you" She said before walking toward the door.

"Wait for me in the break room. I'll be there in a minute." Nick said. She nodded and shut the door.

She walked straight into the locker room to change out of her shirt that had spots of dried blood from her head wound. She threw her white button up shirt in the trash can and slipped on a green t-shirt that read 'Shamrocker' in white letters across the chest. She looked in the mirror hanging on the inside of her locker to examine the cut on her forehead. The paramedic did a good job at cleaning it up, but it looked like such a small cut considering how much blood it shed. She sat down on the bench and stared into the blackness of her locker until someone at the doorway caught her attention.

Greg walked over and sat down next to Andy. She noticed the welt on his forehead, even in the dim light of the locker room.

"Are you okay?" She asked

"Yeah I just tripped over something when the lights cut out." He told her

"No you didn't." She said catching him in a lie

"What?"

"When the lights went out, you were talking to me. You were telling me to sing. I would have known if you tripped." She explained "What did he hit you with?" She asked. Greg looked her in the eyes but didn't answer. "I know it was him Greg, you may have everyone else fooled…"

"Stop it." Greg cut her off. "Just stop it."

"Stop what? Where is this coming from?" She asked taken aback.

"Where is this coming from? I dunno that fact that you disgust me." He said looking away from her. "You walk around acting like your better than everyone else, but I can see right through you Andy. You're nothing but a hick from Texas who wouldn't even be working here if it wasn't for your big brother." Greg continued, still not looking at her.

"Is that what you think?" Andy asked, her eyes starting to water.

"Just go home Andy. You don't belong here." Greg said before walking out of the locker room. Andy was trying her best to control her breathing so that she wouldn't cry at work. She grabbed her purse, shut her locker and found Nick in the break room.

--

Greg sat in his car with his head in his hands and his music loud. He looked up to see Nick, Warrick and Andy walking down the parking garage to their cars. Nick and Warrick were engaged in a humors conversation because Nick was laughing. While Andy looked like a puppy just died. The guilt Greg felt in his stomach multiplied, it was actually making him nauseous. "I did it for her" he kept mumbling to himself as Andy disappeared into Nicks SUV and Nick took off for home.


	9. Good Times

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 9: Good Times...**

It was about noon when Nick finally pulled up to his house. Andy grabbed her backpack from the backseat and followed Nick up to his front door. Before Nick even turned the key she sat down on one of the rocking chairs Nick had on his front porch. Nick looked at her with worry in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Does dad know?" Andy asked not taking her gaze away from her hands

"You better hope not." Nick replied "I haven't gotten a call from mom saying dad just jumped a red eye to Vegas so I don't think he knows...yet" Nick walked over and sat in the chair next to her.

"Yet? You think there is a possibility he'll find out?" She said with a slight undertone of panic.

"Andy you assaulted an Officer of the Law. Even though you were cleared all charges, which you should be extremely thankful for by the way, word is going to get around and dad knows a lot of people. Do you really think he would have agreed to let you come to Vegas if he didn't have someone looking after you?"

"You don't think dad trusts you?" She said finally looking into the eyes of her older brother.

"We're the babies," Nick said with a smile, "you're my partner in crime and dad knows that. He knows I would lie for you if it meant keeping you out of trouble." Andy stifled a small laugh.

"Do you remember the time we stole all of Charlotte's underwear and hung it on the flag pole at the ranch?" Andy said holding back laughs.

"She got so mad she actually gave Wesley headaches, and he was in Seattle visiting Aunt Marge." He replied also holding back laughs.

"Oh man, speaking of weird twin moments, did mom tell you about the time Wesley fell in the lake?" Andy asked sitting up straight. Nick shook his head, "It was just after you left to come here. We had a big ice storm coming so me, mom and Charlotte went to the grocery store to stock up some stuff, and out of nowhere Char just starts crying, like hysterically."

"In the middle of the store?" Nick asked amused

"Middle of the store." Andy confirmed. "We finally calmed her down and dad calls to tell us that Wesley fell through the ice in the lake and he's taking him to the hospital."

"No way!" Nick said astounded

"Way! I don't think he stopped shivering for a week."

"Your 18th birthday," Nick stated "I got you so trashed. I snuck you back in the house at like 3am. I had to tell dad you had an asthma attack and I had to take you to the emergency room."

"When you were 13 you got in that fight at school and had a black eye. We convinced dad that I did it even though I was only 6." Andy said. Nick started cracking up.

"We told him you threw a baseball at my head when I told you the Power Rangers weren't real." They both started laughing. "I got one, when you were about 10 I dressed you up as a ghost for Halloween, just a simple white sheet with wholes for eyes, you remember? I took you trick or treating around the neighborhood. Then I took the sheet off and we went trick or treating again but this time you were Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz."

"I was Dorothy under the sheet the whole time, I remember that!" Andy paused trying to remember. "You were teaching me how to drive dad's car, and I backed up into a pole in the bingo parking lot. You told dad it was a hit and run." Andy said laughing

"You know I think we all learnt how to drive in that parking lot." Nick stated

"We had some good times." Andy said then sat in silence reminiscing on the old times. Nick took a deep breath.

"Maybe it was a mistake, you coming here." Andy looked up at her brother with hurt eyes.

"What?" She said in disbelief, first Greg called her a hick and told her to go home, now her own brother is telling her she was a mistake. She couldn't believe how good the day started, then how it slowly progressed into a day straight out of hell. She stood up and walked into the house. Nick immediately followed.

"Now I'm not saying I don't want you here Andy, I'm just saying O'Brian isn't going to let this go and I feel responsible for getting you involved."

"Nick," She said frustrated because Nick always finds a way to blame himself for every situation. "It's not as bad as you think." She lied, "We exchanged a few words and he pissed me off so I clocked him." She said walking into Nick's guest bedroom and throwing her bag on the bed.

"Do you think I'm stupid? It's my job to notice things Andy. The bruises on your neck, the fact that you used your mace. It all points to self defense. I don't want to know what he did to you, because to be honest I'm barley holding back the urge to go after him as it is, but I do want to know why you and Greg are covering for him." Nick stopped at the doorway.

"Just let it go." Andy pleaded, collapsing on the bed.

"No. You admitted he threatened you. What could he possibly have threatened you about that would keep you from telling me? You tell me everything. I have half a mind to call Jamie and tell him to come here and drag you home."

"I'm no safer in Texas then I am here." Andy stated, water starting to build up in her eyes.

"Do you want to elaborate on that?" Nick demanded, not leaving her with an option. She sat up and looked at Nick who made his way further into the room.

"I'm only telling you this because it's bigger than just you and me."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's our whole families. The O'Brian's versus the Stokes. Mark and the rest of his family seem to think that Brendon was acting on self defense. They're mad at dad for sentencing him for murder." Andy confessed

"But all the evidence pointed against him." Nick said

"Because he's a murderer. The O'Brian's are just pissed that he got caught."

"We have to tell dad."

"NO." She almost yelled. "You know dad, he's not just going to sit back and let someone threaten his family. He's going to try and do something about it and Mark is going to know I ran my mouth." Andy stopped to take a deep breath. "Mark is the only thing keeping the O'Brian's at bay. Once he gives the word…we need to keep this as discreet as possible. I think you should tell Jamie but that's as far as it goes."

Nick pulled out his cell phone and started dialing numbers. "Hey Jamie, its Nicky are you alone man we need to talk." Andy could hear bits of the conversation from the spare bedroom. She laid her head down on the pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.

--

Andy stifled a yawn as she sat in the A/V lab looking over the surveillance tapes they collected at the scene when the meticulous Archie Johnson came in.

"I thought I smelled something sweet." he flirted. Andy rolled her eyes but was flattered none the less.

"You're not going to yell at me for touching your stuff?"

"Of course not, your welcome in here anytime…you look good."

"Thank...you." She was shocked he was so blunt.

"What I mean is…" Archie quickly started his cheeks turning red, "…Its just you look good for someone who was pushed down a flight of stairs." Andy took a deep breath.

"Three steps," She said holding up three fingers. "I don't know what you heard form Hodges but I _tripped_ down three steps. Grissom is right there are no abnormalities at work here, just me being a klutz." She clicked on a couple things on the computer. "See I can prove it, look." She said pointing to the screen. Archie made his way over and sat in the vacant chair next to her.

"Is this the footage from the abandoned house?" Archie asked.

"Yep, I just pulled it up."

On the large monitor was a still shot of the staircase from the top pointed down. Andy appeared on the video from the left of the staircase and started walking up toward the camera. She stopped about halfway and turned around quickly. She started to descend when all of a sudden…

"Oh my god!" The two X-Files fanatics said in unison.

"Please tell me you saw that too!" Andy said shocked

"Watch out." Archie said equally shocked. He pushed Andy's roller chair several inches to the right, and pushed his chair so that he was now in front of the computer. "Let me work my magic." Archie took the video back to when she was standing half way up the staircase, clicked a few buttons and pressed play. Video Andy turned quickly and started to descend again….

Archie looked at Andy with wide eyes. Andy pulled her cell out and dialed Grissom's number.

"Grissom…hey its Andy, look you need to get to the A/V lab now…that can wait…Round the troops, there going to want to see this too." She shut her phone and turned to Archie.

**xoxoxoxo**

**Review :)**


	10. Ghostly Crimes

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 10: ...Ghostly Crimes**

It took Grissom about 10 minutes to find Nick, Greg and Warrick and make it to the A/V lab. He walked in to find his newest employee and his A/V tech talking franticly. "You're audience has arrived." Grissom said to get their attention.

Andy turned around to see Grissom standing with his clipboard in hand. Nick was standing closest to her with his arms crossed looking interested and Warrick was standing next to Archie taking a look at the large monitor. Greg was standing the furthest away from Andy with his hands in his pockets. Andy stomach turned as she made sure not to make eye contact with him. Grissom followed Warrick's gaze and noticed the paused video on the monitor was of Andy standing at the bottom of the large staircase.

"The point of the surveillance was to look at the footage of _before_ you arrived at the scene." Grissom told Andy.

"I know but apparently word around the lab is I was pushed down a flight of stairs. I wanted to prove to Archie that I only tripped down three. That's when we found it."

"Found what?" Nick asked

"Watch." Archie said pressing play.

Video Andy walked up the steps half way, turned quickly then started to make her way back down the steps. She got to the third step from the bottom when a white haze appeared at Andy's foot and she tripped down the last three steps hitting her head on the hard wood floor.

"What was that?" Nick asked walking closer to the monitor.

"I don't know, but it gets creepier. We found this white thing all over the place. Take a look at this." Archie said pulling up another video. Greg froze as he saw himself on the screen.

Video Greg was standing in one of the upstairs rooms when the white haze appeared about ten feet behind him. Greg turned around like someone called his name. Not seeing anything he turned back around to his work. This happened several times until the white thing got very close to Greg then disappeared. Video Greg whirled around as if something touched him. Archie pressed pause.

The hair on the back of human Greg's neck was standing up straight as Archie continued.

"And there's more where that came from. I found…" Andy cleared her throat, "…_we_ found this all over the house." Archie and Andy shared a smile that made Greg's guilt expand to new lengths.

"Either we all have concussions or there is something in that house." Andy said proudly

"Video interference?" Grissom suggested

"A video interference that appears exactly when I trip down the steps?" Andy asked, but before she could get an answer she continued, "If that didn't do anything for you check out the pictures." Andy clicked her mouse a couple times and scrolled through the crime scene photos that she had taken. Almost every picture had some sort of distortion or white orbs blocking the view of the evidence.

"Technical malfunction." Grissom suggested. Andy just looked at Grissom with disbelief. "I noticed when you fell down the steps you dropped your camera." Grissom stated

"You refuse to believe, when the evidence is right in front of your face." Andy said, "These pictures aren't from my camera, there from Greg's." Andy and Greg made eye contact for a fraction of a second before she turned her attention back to the photos.

"Have you found out anything about our victims?" Grissom asked amused at Andy's commitment.

"Yes, but if your not going to believe then what's the point of showing you." Grissom just raised his eyebrow. "Okay fine, this is the first body Warrick and I encountered. At the scene SuperDave said there were no signs of physical trauma on the vic. This would be why." At Andy's signal, Archie pressed play and the man in the video started walking around the room. When all of a sudden the white 'video interference' appeared and the man started screaming and shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly the man fell to the floor and stopped moving. All was silent until Grissom spoke.

"So what do you do from here?" Grissom quizzed Andy.

"Go back to the house?" Andy said hopeful.

"I'm most cases yes that would be correct but in this case it's a no. Actually I have been told by Ecklie to inform all of you that no one from the night shift is aloud back to the house." Grissom replied

"What!" Andy said shocked. "But what if we need to investigate?"

"I'll pass the work to Ecklie and his crew will handle it." Grissom said. "Besides the house, what's the next best thing?

"The body." Andy stated and Grissom nodded. Sara appeared at the door.

"Nick you stay here with Archie, try to clean up some of the video. Warrick take Andy and Greg and meet me at the morgue in five minutes. I have to drop some things off at my office." Grissom left the room with Sara in route to his office.

"Drop things off in his office my ass." Warrick mumbled with a smile. Nick laughed and gave each other a high five.

"This is bullshit" Andy said once Grissom was out of earshot.

"Your heard Grissom, you're not going back to that house. Period." Nick demanded knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"I want to go back to that house." Andy stated the obvious.

"You don't exactly have a choice." Warrick said explained, knowing her stubbornness.

"Look, if I..."

"Andy..." Nick said cutting her off. "I recommended you for this position...don't make me regret it." Nick said. Andy glanced at Greg then back at the back of Nick's head. She was only on her second day of work and it was already being hinted that she didn't belong. She rolled her eyes and picked up her jacket from the back of the chair she was sitting in.

"Whatever, I'll be in the break room when you are ready to go." Andy said to Warrick. She gave the back of Nicks head one last look then left the room. Greg took a deep breath and followed her.

"Hey Andy, can we talk?"

"No." She said reaching in the fridge for a bottle of water.

"Come on, I feel horrible…"

"But you do still owe me breakfast." She said as she walked over to the table and took a seat.

"You're going to let me buy you breakfast?" Greg said confused

"Not anytime soon…but you kind of have a lot of explaining to do." She said looking up at him from the table. "But gossip in this place spreads like wild fire. We could speak in an extinct language and Hodges will find a way to translate it."

"Yeah...how about after shift today?" Greg said hopeful

"I said not anytime soon. Greg you insulted me in ways that you can't just jump back from. Whether you meant it or not you said it." She looked at her water bottle picking at the label. "Who knows, maybe you might even turn out to be right."

"Andy I…" Greg wanted to talk more, to make this okay. But he knew that nothing he could say now would help the situation. He hates it when he knows someone doesn't like him. Especially if it's someone he thinks he may really like back. Andy looked up from her water bottle and met Greg's eyes. She was extremely grateful when Warrick walked in the break room, because she was feeling herself about to do something she would regret.

"Hey I'm...I'm sorry," She said looking up at Warrick, averting her attention away from Greg. "It's just frustrating to try to solve a murder you can't investigate."

"Nah, don't worry about it. You're just as stubborn as your brother." Warrick said and they both laughed. "Hey Greg can you meet us there I need to talk to Andy."

"Sure" Greg said and vacated the break room in record breaking speed. Warrick took a deep breath as they slowly made there way to the morgue.

"Grissom told me what you did." Warrick started, Andy looked at him confused so he elaborated. "In the interrogation..."

"Don't worry about it." Andy said realizing he was referring to Ortega asking her to give up Warrick as the spark to the confrontation.

"There's not one day that goes by that I don't think about..." Warrick stopped walking.

"Hey, you don't need to explain yourself to me." She said turning to look at him.

"Yeah I do..."

"No you don't okay, you really don't. That was the past; it was a long time ago. Think of me as your second chance." Andy said starting to walk again.

"Some would say I already blew that."

"Look, this is no one's fault other than Mark himself." Andy said starting to get annoyed, "So I would appreciate it if you and Nick would stop trying to pin this on yourselves. You're only making it harder for me to deal with." Warrick just nodded his head and stopped in front of two large doors that were labeled 'Morgue'.

"Thank you for not feeding me to the dogs."

"Yeah, you owe me so big" She said and they both stifled a laugh. "Now let's get this over with." She pointed to the double doors behind Warrick.

--

"Sorry I'm late." Grissom apologized as he walked into the morgue. Warrick and Greg stood up from there sitting position and Andy was leaning her back against the wall, trying not to make it obvious that she was attempting to get as far away from the body Doc Robins was currently working on. Which happened to be the body she helped Warrick process at the scene, except a lot more exposed.

"What happened to 'meet in five minutes'?" Warrick asked looking at his watch.

"More like 15." Greg added

"I got held up. I'm a very busy man." Grissom defended himself. "Are you ready?" He added looking at Andy with a smile and an eager look upon his face.

"As I'll ever be…You're going to get enjoyment out of my discomfort aren't you?" She asked. His only reply was a smile.

"What have you got for us Doc?" Grissom asked as he walked over to the table Doc was currently working on. His three CSI's followed.

"Let's start with the trio." Doc said abandoning his current post and walking over to three tables with white sheets covering the contents. "The two males are Lucas and Lenny Black." Doc said handing two folders to Grissom and pulling the sheets down to their waists. Andy took a step back from the shock of the mangled bodies.

"A little warning would have been nice." Andy said trying to recover from the shock.

"Is this your first autopsy?" Doc asked. All she could do was nod her head.

"Brothers?" Grissom asked putting the conversation back on track.

"Twin's actually 24 years old." Doc replied. "COD is multiple abrasions on the jugular vein, they both bled out." Andy swallowed hard as Doc pointed to the deep cuts on their throats. "The girl is Layla Black, sister; 19 years old," He put his hand on the sheet and looked at Andy, "here I go." and pulled the sheet down to the girl's waist. Andy put her hand over her mouth at the sight of the stab wounds on the girl's chest. "Multiple stab wounds to the chest punctured both lungs, which is your cause of death. Unlike her brothers these…" he pointed to the wounds on her arms and legs, "were inflicted post mortem."

"There all related but we found her nude…incest?" Warrick said

"No sign's of sexual activity" Doc stated

"That doesn't make since." Greg said

"It does if she didn't come to the house with them." Andy said trying her best to hold her composure. "Overprotective brother's maybe. They follow her to the house and find her getting comfy with our suicide victim and…" Andy was cut off by Doc Robins.

"What suicide victim?" He asked.

"Gun shot wound to the head, suicide victim." Warrick stated

"This guy?" Doc asked pulling the sheet down on a male gun shot victim. The victim looked to be about 19 years of age, with light brown hair, with an entry wound on his left temple.

"Oh I didn't process him." Andy stated and then looked at Warrick and Greg.

"I never saw the guy." Greg confessed

"Me neither." Warrick added

"Well someone had to process it." Grissom said slightly annoyed.

"Maybe Nick did." Greg said picking up the man's file. "His name's on the form." Greg stated.

"This wound isn't self inflicted, Nick should have noticed that. There's no GSR around the wound so it wasn't close range. And if you look on his hands, he has calluses on his right hand and not his left indicating he was right handed. The entry wound is on the left."

"So he was murdered?" Greg asked

"Yes. And last but not least." Doc said pointing to the body he was working on prior to the CSI's visit. Andy walked over to the opposite side of the table and looked down at the body. Slightly sickened by the man's chest being propped open, she managed to notice something that wasn't right.

"He doesn't have a heart." Andy said pointing to where the heart should be.

"Yes he does," Doc claimed, then without a second to think he placed the man's heart in Andy's hands.

"Oh…my god." Her eyes shot real big and she looked up to see Grissom and Warrick smiling at her expense. Greg was still in the dog house so he thought it best to keep his smile hidden. She returned her eyes and glued them on Doc Robins, refusing to look at the organ in her hands. "And that's the cause of death. Heart attack, but there were no signs of heart damage. It's like it just happened."

"Could he have been scared to death?" Andy asked still not taking her eyes of coroner.

"It's unlikely but not impossible." Doc answered. Andy looked at Grissom with a smile on her face. She looked really uncomfortable. "Are you okay Andy?"

"Yeah." She answered her voice a little too high. Grissom held out a metal bowl with a small smirk and she placed the heart in it.

"Where's the bathroom?" Andy asked. Doc pointed to the door Grissom had entered from earlier. "Thank you," Andy held her composure and walked slowly to the door, once the door closed behind her she broke into a run for the ladies room.


	11. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 11: Breakfast at Tiffany's**

Sitting in the break room, Warrick was enjoying a nice game of Madden with Greg while Andy put her head down on the table.

"Who's winning?" Nick called from the doorway.

"I am!" Warrick and Greg said at the same time. Andy picked her head up and looked at Nick.

"Andy, I didn't even see you sitting there." He said walking over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulder. "How was your first autopsy? " He asked sitting next to her holding back a laugh.

"Horrible. There were five bodies, three of which were mutilated, the guy's brains were missing, Doc put the guy's heart in my hands…"

"He actually put his heart in your hands?" Nick laughed.

"Speaking of bodies," Warrick said, eyes still glued to the screen. "How did you not know the gun shot wound wasn't self inflicted?"

"Yeah, I'm new and I would have known that." Andy added

"What gun shot wound?" Nick looked confused. Warrick and Greg paused the game and looked at Nick like he was crazy.

"You mean you didn't process the gun shot victim's body?" Greg said

"No, I had my hands full with the three bodies in the room from hell." Nick said looking at them.

"But your name is on the form." Greg stated

"I didn't process that body." Nick said stern.

"Umm…"Andy looked like she had something to say. Everyone looked at her. She hesitated to speak a couple times but no words formed.

"Spit it out Andy." Nick said fully annoyed

"Well, when Greg and I found the surveillance room, I noticed you two," She pointed to Nick and Warrick, "processing the three siblings on one of the monitors and…Superdave handling the gun shot guy. I didn't think anything of it at the time because I thought Greg or Nick processed it earlier."

"Why would my name be on the form though?" Nick thought out loud.

"O'Brian?" Andy suggested. Nick looked from Andy to Warrick.

"It's possible." Warrick said

"We should tell Grissom." Greg said

"Tell me what." Grissom said appearing in the doorway.

"Umm…" Nick looked around the room, "It's kinda a long story. You got a minute?"

"Yeah, come with me to my office." Grissom said.

"Andy wait here I shouldn't be too long." Nick said standing in the doorway.

"Actually, Greg and I are going to go get some breakfast." She said looking from Nick to Greg. "But I will meet you at your house after I grab some things from my apartment."

"Okay." Nick said eyeing Greg up. "Have fun." Nick turned and left the break room.

"Where you guys going?" Warrick asked standing up.

"Probably Frank's." Andy answered

"I can't see how you guys eat that stuff." Warrick said sitting the game controller on the table. "Rematch, tomorrow Sanders. Double or nothing."

"Bring it on Brown!" Greg responded.

"See ya Andy."

"By Warrick" She called out as he left the room.

"What made you change your mind?" Greg asked nervously.

"I have to much on my plate right now to be angry with someone who doesn't deserve it." She said pulling out her keys. "I know why you said those things and I know you didn't mean it but it still hurt so I wanted you to suffer for a bit."

As they walked through the halls, Greg noticed Archie looking at them through the glass of his A/V lab. Greg tilted his hat to him with a big smile and they continued out into the parking garage. The lights on her red PT Cruiser flashed when Andy pushed the unlock button on her remote. Greg jumped in the passenger seat and Andy took the wheel. She turned the key and Chiodos started pouring from her speakers.

"You like Chiodos?" Greg asked shocked

"Yeah! You?"

"Yeah, their one of my favorites." Greg said with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was like he could feel himself falling for her. "So you're not mad at me?" Greg asked hopeful

"I was...until Nick said something that made me think." She said backing up out of the parking space. Greg let out a sigh of relief.

"What did he say?" Greg sounded curious

"He wanted to know why me _and_ you were covering for Mark." She said looking at him before shifting her car in drive. "It didn't occur to me at the time that he might have threatened you too." She said

"I didn't mean anything I said. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do…try and scare you back to Texas." Greg said embarrassed.

"I told you, it's going to take a lot to scare me away." Andy said with a smile, which Greg returned. Pulling up to the garage gate she put her blinker on and made a right turn out of the parking garage.

"Umm. Frank's is that way." Greg said pointing over his shoulder.

"I know. Warrick doesn't like Frank's so that's where I told him we were going…so he wouldn't come." She explained. Greg felt the butterflies in his belly take flight at the thought of her wanting to be alone with him.

"So then where are we going?" Greg asked

"You'll see."

After about 4 minutes of driving and singing along to Chiodos, Greg noticed they were in a residential neighborhood. He started to get slightly panicky thinking of the different places she could be taking him.

_What if she takes me to her house? _Greg started to panic.

_No wait, she has an apartment…that she told Nick she would be at after breakfast. _He relaxed a bit after that realization_._

_But what if she only told Nick that so he wouldn't come to check on her until later and she really wants to take me to her apartment now and…_Greg felt a lump forming in his throat_ oh my god, oh god. _

Greg was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barley noticed the car come to a stop. He looked up at Andy and noticed a mischievous smile on her face. He followed her gaze out the windshield and all this worries of her intentions flew out the window because less than 10 yards away was the front door to the abandoned house.

"You can't be serious?" Greg said with utter shock.

"Come on!" Andy said excitedly

"There is no way in hell I'm going in that house." Greg said shaking his head.

"Loser," She teased getting out of the car and heading for the front door. Greg quickly jumped out of the car not bothering to close the door and grabbed Andy before she could reach the steps. He whirled her around rather easy, giving she is smaller than him, and started dragging her back to the car.

"And neither are you."

"Greg, what the hell!" She yelled, though not angry.

"Do you know how much shit we would get into if we got caught." She turned around in his arms so they were face to face. Greg's breath was caught in his throat. Their lips were nothing more than 4 inches apart and he desperately wanted to close that gap. Not realizing Greg's current state Andy went on.

"There is something in that house and you know it. You saw the tapes. What would G.H.O.S.T. be doing here if there wasn't something in there?"

"It's not our crime scene anymore." Greg said slow and dropped him hands from her waist. "Let's just go get breakfast." He pleaded

"You said some pretty hurtful things to me the other day. I forgave you, but that doesn't mean you don't still have some making up to do." She said looking Greg in the eye.

"We could both get fired." His tone was now pleading.

"No one's going to know." She said in a whisper, "I just want a couple pictures." Greg took a deep breath and looked up at the house. He had to admit to himself that he did want to find out more about the house. He looked back at her and held her gaze for a moment.

"Only for a minute." He knew from that moment on he would never be able to say no to her. Before he could do anything else, Andy's arms were around his neck in a tight hug. She then placed her hands on both sides of his face and planed a small kiss on his lips then started making way for the house.

"Come on Greggo!" She called from the porch. Grissom himself could walk up and fire him on the spot and it wouldn't wash away the smile she put on his face.


	12. The Awakening

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 12: The Awakening**

The house seemed smaller and less spooky in the daylight. No voices were heard and there were no feelings that someone was watching. It was way past one minute, more like ten, but Andy looked so happy Greg couldn't bring himself to tell her it was time to leave. Try as he might, Greg could not keep his eyes off of her. Her long brown hair flowing with every movement she made, her bright green eyes locking with his for moments at a time, a smile never leaving her face. Before Greg could control what he was doing, one hand was on her waist, one hand was on her cheek and his lips were locked on hers. He half expected her to push him away, but when she returned the kiss, his hand moved from her waist to her back and pushed her closer to him.

"I'm sorry." Greg said after breaking the kiss. "I'm not normally so forward."

"Do I look like I'm running for the hills?" She said with a smile. Greg returned the smile and went in for another kiss. She put her hand over his mouth. "Hold your horses their lover boy. Save some for later. We still got a basement to photograph." She removed her hand from his lips and started walking in the general direction of the basement.

They followed the familiar route to the basement. Knowing exactly which door lead to the steps Andy walked right up to the door and started to descend the steps before Greg even turned the corner to the hall.

"ANDY, wait." Greg called out, jogging to where she stopped at his request. He squeezed past her in the dark stairwell and took the lead down the steps.

"Hey Greg" Andy said following a few steps behind Greg.

"Yeah?" Greg called out as he felt around in the dark.

"There's a door at the bottom, make sure you don't run into it or anything." Andy said with a smile Greg couldn't see, but could hear in her voice.

"Ha ha ha." Greg said sarcastically. He found the doorknob and started wiggling it.

"What's wrong?" Andy said feeling panic creeping up her chest.

"It's locked!" Greg said wiggling the doorknob more.

"What?!" Andy pushed past Greg to give it a try herself. She reached out and turned the doorknob with ease. The door opened and the light from the windows close to the ceiling shed light on just how close they were standing, and the devilish smirk on Greg's face.

"Oops." Greg said sarcastically, looking directly in her eyes.

"Watch your back Sanders." Andy said with a smirk that mirrored Greg's. She walked out into the basement when she stopped in her tracks at an unwanted familiar sound.

_BANG…_

"What is that?" Andy said covering her ears with her hands. She looked around as if the answer was going to be obvious.

_BANG…_

"Where is that coming from?" Andy said frustrated. She started to walk but froze when the noise grew louder.

_BANG…_

"Andy, come here." Greg yelled. He held out a hand and tried to grab her shirt but she started walking down the large walkway looking for answers.

_BANG…_

"ANDY!" Greg yelled over the noise and started to follow her. Andy took a sharp right turn down another walkway, but when Greg made the same turn Andy was nowhere to be found. Panic rose in Greg's chest. He called out for her but there was no way she would be able to hear him over the loud mysterious noise. He walked down several isles, hating himself for letting her out of his sight.

--

Several minutes had past since the noise started and Andy was no closer to finding out what or where the noise was coming from. She was walking down one of the isles when the noise stopped just as quickly as it started. "Dammit." Andy said aloud to herself. Her ears were ringing from the sudden absence of noise. "Greg." She called out hoping he was near by. The house was less spooky when he was around. "Gregory...SANDERS!" Andy stood very still to listen to the room but pure silence surrounded her. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the number for Greg's cell phone. It rang about 4 times before he picked up.

"Where the hell are you?" Greg asked sounding stressed.

"Relax, home boy I'm fine. I'm not exactly sure where I am in this country of a basement though…umm," Andy looked around for a possible way to explain where she was when she saw the perfect landmark. "Oh, meet me by that fridge we found the other day."

"Well, I'm already there so I'll wait for you." Greg said

"I don't see you?" Andy asked

"I'm standing right in front of the fridge." Greg answered

"Okay this is weird. I'm standing in front of the fridge." Andy said

"There must be two refrigerators down here." Greg suggested opening the fridge door. Andy jumped back and bumped into the shelf near the fridge, knocking off a glass vase, which shattered onto the floor.

"Holy shit!" Greg said startled.

"Are you okay?" Andy asked still shaken up herself.

"Yeah, it's just the shelf next to the fridge shook and a glass vase shattered. It scared me that's all." Greg said running a hand through his hair.

"I just bumped into the shelf near the fridge…the fridge door just opened by itself." Andy said confused "It scared me."

"Andy, I just opened the fridge door."

"What the hell is going on?"


	13. Heart Shaped Screams

**A Hunted Crime**

**Chapter 13: Heart Shaped Screams**

"Okay let's not panic." Greg said more for himself than for Andy.

"Not panic? Are you insane? This isn't possible! How is it that we can be in the same room, but not be in the same room, and still be able to talk on the cell phones?"

"I don't know." Greg bent down and picked up a large metal bowl that Andy knocked off the shelf. The surface was wrapped in a thin layer of dust but he saw something move behind him in the reflective surface of the bowl. "Andy, where are you right now?"

"In front of the fridge." Andy said

"Do me a favor, jump."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it." Greg demanded and Andy complied. "Again," Greg said and Andy started jumping up and down.

"If this is your way of telling me I need to exercise, I hate you." Andy said still jumping.

"Andy you're beautiful." The bluntness of his statement shocked her still.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"You're blushing." Greg stated.

"No I'm not." She said blinking more than average.

"You blink too much when you lie." Greg caught her.

"Can you see me? What am I doing now?" Andy asked with a smile.

"Put that finger down. There should be a large metal bowl on the shelf you bumped into." Greg stated

"No, it's on the ground. I must have knocked it off."

"That's weird I just picked it up…you didn't see it?"

"No."

"How about this, can you see anything?" Greg picked up a book bound in red leather and started tossing it in the air and catching it.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" Andy asked looking around, phone glued to her ear.

"I was tossing a book in the air." Greg said disappointed

"Oh," Andy said with equal disappointment. She bent down and picked up the large metal bowl. "So what's the deal with the, oh my god! I can see you!" Andy said staring into the reflective surface of the bowl.

"Why is it that I saw the shelf move and you saw the fridge open and now we can't see anything the other is doing?

"Maybe that was just to get us started, to help us figure out what was going on."

"What so you think this is some kind of a joke? You think the house is playing with us?"

"Oh my god." Andy said, having an epiphany, looking at Greg in the bowl. "The mirrors. This explains everything." Andy disappeared from Greg's bowl.

"Andy!" Greg yelled into the phone. "Andy." He repeated when he didn't get an answer. Greg grabbed the large bowl and started walking to the mirrors. "Jesus Christ…Andy." He broke into a run still calling her name, searching the bowl for any sign of her. "And…y" Greg threw the large bowl aside and walked up to Andy's reflection in the large mirror propped up against the wall.

"Sorry if I scared you, I can't run with the phone up to my ear."

"This is amazing." Greg said looking at her reflection then at the empty spot where she supposedly stood.

"For you maybe, I'm the one stuck." Andy said putting her hand on the mirror. Greg reached up and placed his hand on the same spot, and a cold chill shot up his arm.

"Did you feel that?"

"No I…"Andy's head snapped to her left. "Hey" She called out.

"Andy what is it?" Before Greg could blink, Andy ran out of the view of the mirror. "Damn it, Andy! Andy!" Greg called one last time before the line when dead. "No, no." Greg cried out. Right when he closed his phone a loud blood curdling scream filled the silence. Greg looked back to the mirrors to find nothing.

He stood there looking at his reflection not knowing what else he could do, when all of a sudden Andy ran from around the corner of a shelf. When she got to the front of the mirror she tripped and instead of falling on the mirror and possibly breaking it or one of her bones, she fell through it and landed at Greg's feet. "Oh thank god." He said grabbing her and pulling her into a bear hug.

"Let's get out of here." Andy said, her teeth chattering.

"You're freezing." Greg said rubbing his hand on her arm. "What were you running from?"

"Me" A voice said from behind him. Greg turned around to see a man of about thirty-five, standing about 10 feet away. Greg pulled out his gun and aimed it at the man.

"No, Greg let's just go. Please." Andy begged standing up.

"Stay back." Greg told the man, pushing Andy behind him.

"Greg, is it? Are you going to shoot me Greg?" The man said taking several steps forward tempting Greg.

"I said stay back!" Greg yelled, his hands sweaty on the stock of his gun.

"Come on Gregory. Show her you're a man." The man taunted.

"You take one more step I swear to god." The man stumbled back a step, but quickly regained his composure and started to walk toward them again. Greg clicked the safety off and pulled the trigger, hitting the man square in the forehead.


	14. Why Won’t You Die?

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 14: Why Won't You Die?**

"Let's get out of here!" Andy said pulling Greg, who stood shock still at what he had just done. "Greg, please!"

Greg snapped out of his trance and let Andy pull him away from the man on the ground. They reached the upstairs hallway and Andy slammed the basement door shut. Half walking half running they made their way to the front door. Andy made it there first only to turn the knob and find it locked.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She said frustrated and scared.

"Watch out," Andy moved to the side as Greg started throwing his body weight into the door hoping it to give way.

"You're not going to get it opened like that. It opens inward, you're only going to hurt yourself." Andy noticed.

"There's got to be another way out. Come on," Greg said grabbing Andy's hand. When they turned around they froze in shock to realize they were blocked in the foyer by none other than the man Greg had just shot…in the forehead.

"What the fuck!" Greg said in an almost inaudible whisper, as noticed the man standing there, forehead as smooth as it was before Greg pulled the trigger.

The man grabbed Greg by the throat with one hand and lifted him off the ground. He held Greg up, looking at his steadily turning red face then threw him across the room into the study and over the table. Andy took this opportunity to run in the opposite direction, but the man was too fast for her. Realizing she was cornered in the living room she grabbed the first weapon she could get her hands on…the fire poker.

"Who are you?" Andy asked holding the poker ready for attack.

"My name is Benjamin and you're in my house." He said standing perfectly still. His skin was pale as snow and his eyes were dark as coal.

"This house is abandoned." Andy corrected him, "It's owned by the state."

"I assure you this is my home." He said as if he were talking to a ten year old.

"Yeah, and I assure you if you come any closer I'll shove this poker so far up your ass you'll taste the rust." She threatened

"I thought I proved I can not be killed." Benjamin said with a smile.

"No, you only proved you can't be shot in the head...perhaps a wooden stake would do the trick?"

"You're quite an observer."

"It's my job. But do you really expect me to believe you're a vampire?" She asked gripping the fire poker tighter.

"You've seen my coffin. I thought for sure you cracked his teeth with that flash light." Benjamin added taking a step toward her.

"I'm warning you!" She yelled as he walked another step closer. With all her might, and without a second thought, Andy thrust the fire poker forward so hard it went through his body and poked out the other side. Benjamin flinched a little but, to Andy's amazement, was still standing.

"Now I thought you said you were going to stick it up my behind?" Benjamin said with a smile. Andy let go of the poker and backed completely into the corner with her hand over her mouth in shock. Benjamin examined his injury and clasped both hands around the rusted rod. Slowly he pulled the poker from his body.

"Holy shit." Andy mumbled to herself. Ben winced a bit and finished pulling the poker from his body and threw it to the side. The next thing Andy knew he was right on top of her, pinning her against the wall. "What the hell are you?"

"I thought we already established this?" He opened his mouth wide to show long canines. "Not very many woman visit my house." He said brushing Andy's curves. She tried to push him away but his strength was no match for her. He grabbed her by her hair and held her face to look directly into his eyes. Her pushing and shoving came to an abrupt stop. Ben pushed the hair off her shoulders and tilted her head to the side. He leaned over and placed his mouth just above the right side of her neck. He inhaled deep, taken in the smell of her skin.

"Do you want me to bite you?" Ben asked stroking her neck.

"Yes." She replied breathlessly as he put her under his charm. Ben moved his lips from her neck to her mouth and kissed her passionately. He slowly moved back to her neck and opened his mouth wide about to feast on her when all of a sudden he shook violently and toppled onto the floor. Andy looked at Ben and noticed a hammer sticking out the back of his head. She looked up to see Greg standing there with a murderous glare and blood leaking down the side of his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked reaching for her hand.

"I think so." She said coming out of his charm. "Are you okay?" She asked jumping into Greg's arms.

"I will be once we get out of here." Hand in hand they ran around the first floor looking for a door that would lead them to the outside that wasn't locked. They had no luck.

"There has to be a way out from the basement." Andy suggested

"No, we are not going back down there." Greg said with a stern tone. "We have no idea what happened down there and I'm not going to risk loosing you again."

"That seems to be our only option." Andy said stopping in front of the basement steps.

"Okay." Greg gave in. "You don't let go of my hand do you understand." Greg said looking her directly in her eyes.

"Yes."

"Not for anything!"

"Okay."

Greg tightened his grip on her hand before descending the steps. When they reached the landing, Greg's grip tightened more as he guided her around the basement looking for an escape from this nightmare. "Greg, look!" Andy said pulling Greg to a stop. She pointed to the area where she had bumped into the shelf and knocked over a glass vase.

"What?" Greg said confused

"The vase. I knocked that over, it shattered in a million pieces. Yet here it is sitting on the shelf, intact." Andy looked at Greg who seemed to be staring at the area. "What do you think it means?" She asked

"I don't know but we need to get the hell out of here."


	15. Pitch Black, Giggles

A Haunted Crime

Chapter 15: Pitch Black, Giggles

They wondered around the basement looking for a way out only to find concrete walls and a feeling of claustrophobia. Granted the basement was bigger than most elementary schools. "There has got to be a way out of here." Greg said as they walked around the basement.

"What about the windows?" Andy asked pointing up to the windows that sat about 5 feet above her head where the walls met the ceiling.

"They don't look like they open." Greg stated examining the panes of glass, anxiety written on his face. As Greg's head was tilted up he noticed Andy's head whip to her right. "What?" Greg said uneasy.

"Nothing." She said brushing him off. "What if we break the glass?"

"No, there's grating on the outside. We can break the window but we're still stuck down here." Greg said, "Let's try this way." They walked past some familiar rooms and shelves when Greg stopped moving, making Andy nearly crash into him.

"What's wrong?" Andy said looking at Greg's face. She couldn't tell what emotion his face was showing but she knew she didn't like it.

"Look" He said pointing straight out in front. Andy reluctantly looked over and each mirror that lay against the wall was pitch black. They were standing not even 10 feet away from the once reflective surfaces but could not see their reflection. Andy took a step forward, feeling the same pull she felt on the staircase the night they were investigating the house. Not knowing why she wanted to touch the mirror, but a major urge to do so filled her head.

"Andy stop." Greg said pulling her back. The harder he tried to pull her back, the harder she tried to fight him. But Greg was too strong for her to break free of, he was winning this battle. Greg managed to grasp both arms around her upper body to pull her back behind a set of shelves. "Andy please," he pleaded one more time, "Stop it!" He said whirling her around, purposefully making her lose her footing and fall to the ground. Greg got down and straddled her putting both hands on her face. "We have no idea what is going to happen if we go anywhere near those mirrors. You have to stop." She stopped pushing him and just looked him in the eye. Tears started to build up in her eyes.

"What's wrong with me?" She said letting the tears flow. Greg pulled her up into a sitting position and sat down next to her, pulling her to him and letting her rest her head on his chest. "I want to go home." Andy said between sobs.

After what seemed like hours Andy finally regained her composure and stood up. "Were not going to find a way out laying around like this." She said whipping her eyes. Greg stood up with a smile and was about to say something when, BANG.

The noise shocked them so much Andy fell back into one of the shelves knocking off yet another glass vase. She covered her ears and started running. "Andy!" Greg yelled but was no match for the noise that surrounded him.

--

Andy ran as fast as she could, no longer worrying about covering her ears to protect them from the mysterious noise. Down the isle's, through the walkways and up the main pathway. Just as she was about to turn into one of the isles of shelves she tripped and fell. The noise stopped. She put her head on the ground about to bust out in tears again when she heard a small laugh, more like a giggle, coming from in front of her. Still lying, face down on the ground. She lifted her head up to find a little girl of about six standing their giggling. Not completely taking in what she was seeing, Andy stood up not taking her eyes off the translucent figure. "Did you trip me?" She asked the girl rather angry.

The little girl brought her hand up to her mouth as she giggled and nodded her head. Greg appeared at the opposite end of the walkway and called out for Andy to wait for him. He also said something about don't run away from him again, but she didn't catch that part because the little girl took off down running down the isle, and so did she.


	16. Nevermore

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 16: Nevermore**

Chasing after the girl was no easy feat. Not only was she oddly fast for a six year old but she would make turns right through the middle of the shelves, forcing Andy to run all the way around them, looking for the brat that tripped her. Finally, after losing her several times through shelves, Andy thought she was going to have the girl cornered. But when they got close to the wall, she just kept running and went straight through the concrete. Andy ran up to the wall and slapped it with her hand. "Damn it."

Greg caught up and wanted to yell at her but was in no condition to even whisper at the moment. He keeled over placing his hands on his knees and was taking deep breathes. Andy turned around and placed her back on the wall, sliding down allowing the concrete to guide her to the floor. She sat there looking out at nothing in particular taking deep breaths herself.

Greg studied her face then felt the odd feeling they were being watched. He scoped out the general area but couldn't find anything.

"Get up." Greg said looking back at Andy.

"What! Why? Were never going to find a way out."

"I don't think were alone. Just get up." He said holding out a hand for her to take.

"Of course were not alone, did you not see her?" Andy said jumping up on her own.

"Who?" Greg said looking at Andy with interest.

"The little girl I was chasing. Didn't you see her?" Andy asked her looking directly at Greg.

"I didn't see anyone, I was right behind you the whole time." Greg said but stopped suddenly. A faint whisper could be heard but the words couldn't be distinguished.

"What is…?"

"shhhhh" Greg grabbed Andy's hand and they slowly walked toward where they thought the sound was coming from. Not knowing where to walk, just letting their leg's go where they pleased, they ended up right back in front of the mass wall of mirrors. The whispering more audible.

…_And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain  
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;  
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating  
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -  
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -  
This it is, and nothing more,'…_

"It's The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe." Andy whispered. They listened as the whispers kept coming. It sounded as though the whisperer was reading the poem and not reciting it. A Texas twang apparent in the voice made Andy shiver. "Oh my god" She breathed hoping this was just a figment of her imagination, "It's Nick."

"What? How can you tell?"

"He's my brother. He used to read Poe to me when I was a kid…" Andy took a deep breath, overwhelmed with there situation. "I can't…I want to go home."

"I don't know about you but I don't want to know what else is in this house." Greg agreed. They both stared at the pitch black mirror when there reflections came back into view, along with something charging at them from down the large pathway. They turned around to try and get a better look at what they were up against but it was something they have never seen before. "What the hell is that thing?" Andy yelled as the thing steadily came toward them. The only thing they could make out was white fur and claws.

"I don't know but I think we better run." Not on the same wave length Greg ran right and Andy ran left. Andy dove behind a large desk, hoping that would be enough cover for the monstrosity. But was sadly mistaken when she heard the sound of claws scrapping the concrete floor as it reduced from running to a slow walk. She couldn't tell where the thing was but could feel it coming closer. Her heart pounding in her chest, she could hear the beasts every breath, which sounded dangerously to close for comfort. She could feel the things curiosity, she could sense that it was about to make it's move.

"Andy!" She heard Greg yell from off in the distance. Then she heard the same, claw to concrete, scrapping noise getting softer and softer, which meant the thing was running away from her. But it also meant that it was after Greg.

"This isn't happening. I just want to go home." Andy quickly jumped from behind the desk and as she dusted off her clothes, she met the most shocking thing she has seen so far. Even more shocking than the unknown beast that was about to eat her.

The translucent figure just stood there looking at her, smiling like he always does when she's around. Hands in his pockets he walked away from her line of sight and into the mirror that she had heard Nick reading 'The Raven' from not to long ago. "Warrick!" She called after him as he walked away. But when she got to the Mirror he was gone. All she could see was herself, and Greg running towards her, the giant white beast behind him. She turned around for the second time to find that thing charging down the pathway.

As they were getting closer she noticed Greg wasn't slowing down, panic started to rise in her chest. "Greg!" She screamed as he ran straight into her and into the mirror Warrick just disappeared into. "Greg!"

--

Greg!" Andy screamed sitting up in the bed. The white sheets much more clean than the clothes she had been wearing just moments ago.

"Andy!" Nick said jumping up from his chair. "Lay down."

"Where's Greg?" Andy asked in a panic.

"Lay down. You're going to pull the I.V. out." He said pushing her down by the shoulders.

"I.V.? Where am I? What the hell is going on?" Andy screamed


	17. Déjà vu

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 17: Déjà vu**

"Andy calm down." Nick pleaded to the frantic girl. "You're in the hospital sweetie." Andy suddenly stopped thrashing around and looked at Nick with confusion.

"What?" She said then looked around the room confirming it was indeed a hospital room.

"You were in an accident." Nick said slowly

"An accident? What kind of accident? Where's Greg!" She asked in quick succession.

"A car accident."

"Where's Greg!" She shouted for the last time panic rising in her chest.

"Greg's umm…" Nicks voice faded out. As if she wasn't already frantic enough, her heart dropped all the way down to her feet. "Either at the lab or with Warrick. I can't remember which." Andy felt as if a weight had been lifted. Her body actually felt lighter.

"Why did you have to phrase it like that?" She said on the verge of tears. "He's okay?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. He's fine. He woke up yesterday."

"Wait, what do you mean woke up?" Andy said the heavy heart feeling coming back.

"Sweetheart, you've been out for about three days."

"What the hell happened?" Andy said rubbing her forehead with her hand.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Nick asked

"Promise you won't get mad?" Andy asked

"I'll do my best." Nick said truthfully

"I was headed back to the house."

"What house?"

"The house we were told not to back to."

"That house we thought was haunted? The crime scene?"

"Yeah, I told you we were going to breakfast but we went back to the house." Nick looked at her with skeptical eyes.

"We found your car attached to a tree about 3 miles west of the lab. I got the call about 5 minutes after you left for breakfast. If you had intentions on going back to the house you never made it there." Andy placed a shaking hand over her mouth, taking in all the information that was being thrown at her. "Do you want some water?" Nick asked, she nodded.

She watched Nick's hand move from her arm to the side table where sitting there next to the water cup he just picked up was a thick leather bound book titled 'The Collective Works of Edgar Allan Poe'. A strong sense of déjà vu hit her like a ton of bricks. Nick tried to hand Andy the cup but followed her eyes to the book.

"It felt just like old times. Minus the tubes." He said smiling

"'The Raven'?" Andy asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it's your favorite." Nick said, "Right?" Andy nodded her head as she took the cup from Nick. Suddenly a loud bang made Andy nearly spill her water.

"Relax, there just doing construction outside." Nick comforted her.

"When can I get out of here?"

"I'll go get your doctor." Nick said walking out of the room. Andy unplugged the IV that was attached to her arm and hopped off the bed and into the bathroom. After she finished her business she washed her hands and splashed some water on her face. She dried her face off and examined herself in the mirror. She had several small cuts under her left eye and a large bandage on her forehead over her right eye. She heard Nick call her name from the room. She walked out and saw him standing with a very handsome man about 30. For the second time in a hour the feeling of déjà vu hit her hard.

"This is Dr. Pratt. He's been looking over you." Nick said.

"I just need a blood sample, so I can release you." Dr. Pratt said innocently. Nick assisted Andy up onto the bed. The doctor came around and stood in front of her pulling out a syringe and a needle. Andy studied his face for a moment, then looked at his name tag.

"Dr. Benjamin Pratt." Andy read

"That's what's on my birth certificate." He joked. "Minus the Doctor part of course."

"Have we met before?" She asked

"Not that I know of." She said inserting the needle into the crease of her arm.

"You look really familiar." Andy said not taking her eyes off his face.

He finished taking her blood and moved on to checking her for any signs of brain damage. "Okay Andrea, you hit your head pretty hard but I don't see any sign of brain injury. I'm going to go put a rush on your sample and well have you out of here in no time." The doctor said leaving the room.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked "You look a little stressed."

"That guy looks really familiar but I don't know where I could have seen him." She said lying back on the firm hospital bed.

***Several hours had passed since Andy woke up. ***

"Where is everyone?" Andy asked after beating Nick in checkers for the 7th time in a row.

"Trying to solve your case." Nick said as if it was obvious.

"My case?" She said confused

"Andy, we have reason to believe you were forced off the road." Nick said as if he was trying to keep anger off his face. "I have my own suspicions but of course I'm not aloud to work the case."

"You think O'Brian had something to do with it?" Andy asked, reading Nick like a book.

"It's possible." Nick answered. Andy hit the checkerboard with her fist making the pieces fly over the bed.

"Why don't I remember anything?" Andy said frustrated. "I keep having these moments of Déjà vu. Like when I saw the Poe book, the construction, the doctor."

"Well I use to read you Poe all the time when you were little." Nick said "And you have a pretty nasty head injury. It's not your fault"

"Do you think Grissom will let me work tomorrow?" Andy said hopeful

"I don't care what Grissom says you're not working tomorrow."

"We'll see."


	18. The End of the Beginning

**A Haunted Crime**

**Chapter 18: The End of the Beginning**

One year had passed since Andy was hired by the Las Vegas Crime Lab. She stood in the garage looking over a car PD had just pulled from a lake. Though even given her tenure, she stood there in one of Nick's overalls. The sleeves and pant legs rolled up several time so her hands and feet just barley stuck out. "Hey short stack!" Nick greeted as he walked in the garage wearing his overalls the way there are supposed to be worn.

"Hey Nicky." She greeted still staring at the car.

"What's up?" He asked

"What, besides the fact that I still don't have my own pair of overalls."

"You look like your wearing elephant skin." Nick snickered

"I feel like I'm wearing elephant skin." She said annoyed pulling the overalls back over her shoulder as it slid off. But Nick knew the real reason she was annoyed. She's been annoyed a lot lately.

"You want to talk about it?" Nick asked walked further into the room.

"Well, there's not much to say. I've tried ordering them like a million times."

"No, no I mean what's going on between you and Greg."

"You know I really wish people would stop asking me that." Andy said picking up a pair of rubber gloves and putting them on.

"You know I actually thought you liked him when you first started." Nick confessed, "I mean when you woke up in the hospital you kept screaming for him. I just thought you guys hit it off."

"Me? Like Greg? He's a pretty boy. My brothers are pretty boys, not my boyfriends." She said with a smile. "And I was only calling out for him because…he was in the car too…I was just making sure he was okay."

"You don't remember the crash." Nick stated.

"So, what's going on with this car." Andy said as she bent down looking at the large dent on the front of the passenger side door.

"Yeah, okay." Nick said knowing she was just avoiding the conversation, "Wait you don't have the file?" Nick asked

"No I thought you had it."

"Damn, I think I left it in the layout room. I'll be back." Nick turned and began jogging out of the room. "Greggo!" Nick greeted on his way out. Andy stood up and turned around to find Greg standing in the doorway dressed in his overalls.

"What are you doing here?" Andy asked

"Grissom asked me to help." Greg said walking into the garage.

"Well, it's a small car so I think Nick and I can handle it." Andy said

"Did I do something to you?" Greg asked

"I believe you called me a hick from Texas that only got a job here because of Nick, and that I should go home because I don't belong here…does that ring a bell?"

"Wha…Andy you know why I said that stuff to you. We went over this a year ago."

"It must have slipped my mind." Andy said kneeling back down to examine the dent.

"You dream about it too don't you?" Greg asked the question he had been dying to ask her sense the accident. But she made it very difficult for them to be alone. Andy stood up and looked at Greg with an expression that game him his answer. "It's good to know that I'm not alone."

"Yeah, I haven't been sleeping well." She said looking down at her hands.

"You know there's only one way to make it stop." Andy looked up at Greg knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Grissom will kill us." Andy stated

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. I haven't slept in a year." Greg looked at Andy then turned to go see if he can find other work to do.

"Hey Greg, thanks for making the first move." She said

"No problem." He said walking to the doorway. He turned around at the last minute, "Your move."

**Xoxoxo**

**I have decided to split this story into two parts so the story won't be a million chapters long. The second is called A Haunted Crime: Nightmares and Daydreams…I already updated the first chapter so go check it out and let me know how you like it!**


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